Five Brothers, a Band, and a Lost Winged Girl
by LoweFantasy
Summary: Three angelic brothers are on the search for their long lost sister. A winged god-daughter of a man-eating demon starts her first day of public school, forbidden to love. Somehow Yugi, his twin brother Yami, and their best friend Joey get mixed in by starting a band in a garage. And underneath it all, a blood thirsty Marik hunts "birdies" in the shadows. (JouxMai)(YxOCxY)
1. A Garage Band and Hidden Wings

**Yo! LoweFantasy here, just letting you know it's my policy to update AT LEAST once a week. It annoys the crap out of me to be stuck in a story with no way of finishing it. You don't have to worry about that with me! I'm what I like to call a barf writer. I just sort of get it all out. Please, grab some sweedish fish, get cozy, and enjoy the story. **

Five Brothers, a Band, and the Lost Girl

by LoweFantasy

Chapter 1: A Garage Band and Hidden Wings

(and some creepy dude who likes to eat people)

The garage had motor oil stains on the floor, cobwebs lacing every crevice, and a pile of boxes filled with questionable items against the wall. An old green Volkswagon bug took up the majority of the space, happy to rust away in its coffin in peace. Yugi smiled up in pride at his twin brother, Yami, and best friend, Joey Wheeler.

"I asked Jim and he said we could move the VW out if we'd be willing to rig up a carport for it, and mom says she'll go through the boxes this weekend! Isn't it perfect?"

"Um," said Yami, eyes on the cobwebs.

"Oh, how original. We're gonna be a band in a garage. Uh, that grease ain't going to hurt my drums, is it?" Joey pointed to the black splotches on the floor.

"We'll get a rug or carpet-"

"With what money?"

"A rug can't be that hard to find! If all else fails we can put cardboard down."

"I ain't starting my bad-ass musical career on old boxes."

"Freak, Joey, stop being such a snob. Lots of bands have started in worst places." Yami stepped off the doorway and walked around the garage. "I think it'll work great. Question is, how do you plan on building a carport, Yugi?"

Yugi bounced in place. "I've been doing some googling. Can't be too hard if we all work together!"

"Well at least that I can do," said Joey, "but again-how are we going to get the parts? Green, guys, green!"

"Junk yard!" said Yugi, bouncing to his twin. Though the same age, Yami and Yugi weren't entirely identical. Yami stood about a head taller with sharp, crimson eyes. And though their hair was identical, Yami gelled his bangs up his spiked hair to set himself apart from his bubbly, geeky, game obsessed little brother (by ten precious minutes). "What are you looking at?"

"Rust. Why does Jim still have this thing? He only knows enough about fixing cars to get himself into trouble." said Yami.

"Aren't those old bugs suppose to be real easy to fix?" said Joey.

"Doesn't matter if you don't know how."

"Why does it matter to you?" asked Yugi.

"Well," said Yami, walking to the other side of the bug. "It'd make this whole thing a lot easier if we didn't have to build a carport."

Yami tapped one of the bug's flat tires and humphed. Joey looked up at all the cobwebs and grimaced.

"We're gonna have to have a cleaning party, aren't we? Damn, I hate cleaning. Besides, we still need a singer."

"I thought we already decided that? I'm going to be singing." said Yami, glaring at Joey.

Joey raised his hands defensively, though his smirk ruined it. "Dude, you sing all right, but really, Yugi should."

Yugi flushed. "That's not funny."

"You're right, it's not. It's sad."

Yami frowned. "Forget it, I'm singing, we're done. Let's go heat up some fish sticks before I starve to death, we need to work out when we're going to do all this. There is that math final in Peterson's class next week."

They followed him back into the house. Yugi gave one last excited look to the garage before flipping off the light and closing the door. The cobwebs floated up for a second in the breeze then fell back into their places.

!#$%^&*%$#

Carefully, Angie finished the last layer of black fingernail polish. She hated the feeling of the thick paste on her nails as well as the dark color, but that was why she did it. It was unlike her. And if being someone else meant she could go to school, she'd take it. Smiling to herself, she checked the clock and went into the bathroom to unwrap her newly dyed black hair. As she blow dried out the curls into long straight as rain strips, Cain walked in.

"So excited for something as miserable as high school." he said, dark skin clashing against hers in the mirror, despite her new dark look. His dark wings filled the doorway, leathery and naked. She barely heard him above the blow dryer and said nothing. He continued to watch as she finished her hair. When she reached for the black eyeliner and mascara, he raised an eyebrow.

"You do know how to use those?" he asked.

"I watched a youtube video." she said. "And I practiced last night."

"Good. Be sure to eat before you leave."

And with that, he left. She uncapped the black eyeliner pencil and tried to smile at it. Black wasn't so bad. It meant she could look more like Cain, her godfather. Besides, her paleness was a fluke. She was suppose to be dark skinned, brown eyed, and with tightly curled black hair like her parents and Cain. She was suppose to have black wings too. Dropping the eyeliner and frowning, she slipped off the shawl from behind her. Her pale grey, feathery wings appeared. She scowled in the mirror. Cain could've been a powerful dragon in another life. She looked like a pigeon.

Before Cain could see them, she threw the shawl back over, making sure nothing showed, and continued with applying her make up. As she finished the dark, gothic look (it was the only thing that went with her pale skin), she pulled out the black lipstick and hesitated. Cain's lips weren't black. They were a deep purple brown. She didn't even like the feel of make up caking her face. Figuring it was enough, she dropped the lipstick back without applying it.

The cement walls of the living room were lit by modern, upturn glass bowls. There were wide windows that covered the east wall, but they were heavily draped. Cain sat on the black leather sofas, reading the newspaper while the news played. He ran an online news and opinion column that was very popular, so he had to keep an ear out for what was happening in the world. One of his illusional coats for hiding his own wings hung by the door with a fine layer of dust.

"Remember our agreement." he said without looking up.

"I already promised I would." she said.

She walked into the kitchen, which was sleek, modern, and full of glass and black appliances. She hesitated when she opened the fridge, then grabbed a smoothie. Her stomach felt too squirmish for anything more.

She checked her shawl in the mirror to be sure no ugly grey feathers showed, grabbed her book bag, and headed out the door. "Kay, I'm heading out now!"

Cain looked back. "But school doesn't start for another hour!"

She tried not to look as sheepish as she felt. "I want to figure out how to get around before everyone gets there. You know, so I don't stand out?"

He hesitated, then turned back to his newspaper. "I should have thought of that."

"Love you!"

"Love you too."

And with that she closed the door behind her, trying to suppress the urge to leap into the air, and headed down the hall to the elevator that would take her off the top floor and down thirty stories. She'd often wondered about the view from their windows, being so high up, but Cain strictly forbade it. Sunlight wasn't good for his health or concentration, and his health was bad enough with her ruining it. On that thought, she hoped he'd be okay back home without her. He could get so caught up in his work he'd often forget to eat and drink. Maybe she shouldn't go to school…

But then the doors opened and other teenagers with backpacks filled in besides her and her apprehension returned to excitement. She'd never been to a public school before. So many people! And her age too! And libraries and classes and teachers who she could ask as many questions as she wanted to without them snapping at her and telling her to stop being so noisy.

Her knees knocked together in her efforts to stop from leaping into the air and displacing the shawl tied about her wings. She couldn't draw attention to herself. That was what she had promised. No one could be close, no one must see her ugly freak pigeon whiteness, and no friends.

It would be hard, but like the make up, the hair dye (that was already making her head itch), and the stuffy illusional shawl, it was worth it.

The elevator dinged and she walked out with the others, beaming, because she was a student just like them.

! #$%^^$%# $%^&

_"Isn't it about time we gave up?"_

_ "What if we find her tomorrow? Or the next?"_

_ "You ask that every time Orphus brings that up, Max. You just like personifying that stupid little voice in everyone's head that keeps them at the slots."_

_ "I don't appreciate you comparing our sister to gambling."_

_ "Stop sounding so self-righteous, you don't even remember her!"_

_ "And I never'll get a chance if we give up now!"_

_ "Jake, stop antagonizing him. I'm serious this time. We have other things we should be doing that we can't put off any longer. If mother were better, well...things would be different. Father would understand."_

_ "No he wouldn't! This is our family we're talking about, Orphus!"_

_ "He has a point, Max, and you know it. You have responsibilities too, even if it's scary to think about you with responsibilities."_

_ "Shut up, Jake!"_

_ "Jake, just go."_

_ "What! You're taking his side?"_

_ "We all know you're dragging baggage into this conversation, and we can't act like children anymore. Go and...do something useful."_

_ "Like searching for a dead sister, perhaps?"_

_ "How dare you!"_

_ "Max-"_

_ "How can you just stand there like that, Orphus? She's your sister too!"_

_ "But she might be-"_

_ "She's not!"_

_ "And there he goes. Why must you you always pick on him, Jake?"_

_ "Because he needs to stop living in the clouds. After ten years, there's a good chance she's gone for good. Besides, he's too much like mother."_

_ "And that's a bad thing?"_

_ "It is if you get your hopes up about having a little sister who might not be alive anymore."_

_ "But what if she's not, Jake?"_

_ "Then everyone will cheer, poop rainbows, and drink lots of Pepsi."_

_ "...I can't believe you're the oldest."_

_ "Because I'm just that witty?"_

_ "I don't even know what you're talking about. So much for trying to get an intelligent conversation from you two."_

_ "Woa, hang on, where are you going, Orphus?"_

_ "To talk to mother. She should be sensible enough."_

_ "Uh, right. Good luck with that."_

_! # $%^&*%&%$#_

Yugi unstuck his cheek from the desk. Joey was tugging one of his outlandish hair spikes.

"Augh, what 'zat for?" Yugi mumbled, running hands down his eyelids.

"Class is over."

He groaned. "Where's Yami?"

"With his groupies, of course."

"Oh…"

Joey watched his expression change, but said nothing, to which Yugi was glad. He didn't want to talk about his brother's growing popularity. Yugi had never been considered cool, and he never mistook himself to be that. He was one of the shortest juniors in the school, shy, quiet, and while other guys would be playing sports or geeking out about girls, Yugi would rather stay at home and play video games. If anything, his only redeeming quality was his ability to sing and play the piano, but how sissy was that? Besides, he had the stage fright of a three year old, as Yami would often say. Yugi couldn't understand how being able to sing like a girl should NOT give him stage fright.

"Come on, buddy, lunch time."

"Why don't you just go with Yami?"

Joey rolled his eyes. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you were my best friend first. Besides," he pointed a thumb over his shoulder and smirked. "If I were to hang around him too much, he'd lose his peeps. I'm just that handsome."

Yugi smiled, "Keep dreaming, Joey."

As Yugi gathered his book bag and went to his locker for his lunch, Joey followed, chatting about their garageband idea. His main concern, of course, was the covering for the floor. Joey's drums were his pride and joy after having to work most of freshman and sophomore year to get them.

"So, thinking of borrowing my dad's truck. We should be good to go to the junkyard whenever you like."

Yugi flinched and accidentally closed his locker harder than he meant to. "Woa, how do you think you're going to get that?"

"Why do you sound so worried?"

"Well, you're dad is, um…" Frankly, his dad was worse than Yami and Yugi's stepfather. While theirs was a grump, Joey's was straight out, undeniably abusive.

"Easy. I'll buy him some booze after school, strategically place them in the fridge, then wait an hour or so and-presto! Man will be out like a light. Will only wake up to pee and won't even notice I or his truck are gone."

Yugi felt awkward listening to how stereotypical Joey's dad was with his alcoholism. One of these days he and Yami were going to call social workers on Joey and make a blood oath to never tell him. The only reason they hadn't yet was they had yet to figure out where Joey lived, a secret he kept locked up and vacuum sealed from _anyone_, even Yugi. Hard to send police on a place you don't know. They had even tried googling it with no luck.

But they couldn't very well haul materials for something as big as a carport in Yami's tiny old honda, nor would Jim even dream about lending them his shiny new chevy truck when he needed it for work, so…

"Um, all right, if you're comfortable with that…"

"Aw, come on, Yug! I've done it millions of times before. Having an bum for a parent has it's perks, if you're as smart as me, that is."

In the cafeteria, they sat against the windows rather than on one of the crowded tables. The table they use to sit at with Yami was now stuffed with people like a sardine can. Yugi did his best to not notice this. It wasn't as though Yami rubbed it in his face or treated him any different for it.

"So, Yug, what songs have you got for us?"

Yugi swallowed the bologna and cheese sandwich he had been munching on. "A few. I was going to call you over tonight to show you and Yami to see if you guys think they're any good."

A high pitched giggle that sounded like a cross between a yappy dog and a strangled chicken came from Yami's table. Joey wrinkled his nose. If Yugi didn't have a first hand experience in Tea's sharp ears, he would have laughed out loud and spray bologna like a boss.

"Man, that woman's laugh gives me nightmares."

"Another reason I don't envy Yami." said Yugi. "Though Tea's nice enough."

"Nice? Yug, she slapped you into a trash can!

He felt his face heat up. "I wouldn't have gotten into the trash can if I hadn't been so short in the first place."

"What does that have to do with the fact she slapped you?"

"I did laugh at her."

"Who wouldn't? I've heard some kids recorded it behind her back and use it as a ringtone."

"Popular."

"Exactly. The snobby kind you'd think only existed in those stupid high school drama movies."

"Well, those movies are partially based in fact, I guess."

Joey snorted. "I love how naive you are, Yug. So cute."

Yugi clenched his fists and glared at him. "You told me you wouldn't call me that again!"

"Oh, but you are!" said Joey, as though talking to a puppy. Yugi took a spoonful of pudding and lobbed it at his pants. Joey cursed.

As he did, someone else said, "Oh, bother!"

Yugi looked up. A girl, dressed in classic goth punk black with that too shiney color of dark hair that screamed dyed stared down at her burger, which had fallen a bit a ways from them from her tray. She had been heading into the courtyard just past the windows and it had fallen into the doorway. As he watched she sighed and leaned down to pick it up.

Yugi stood up.

"Where ya going?" asked Joey. "It better be to get napkins, you jerk."

But he went over to the girl and crouched on the floor next to her.

"You don't have to do that. There's kids that volunteer to help the janitors with clean up."

The girl jumped and looked at him with a wide, deer in the headlights look. Yugi felt his stomach leap: she had the most beautiful bright green eyes he had ever seen. The black eyeliner made the color jump, but also made her look like a racoon.

"But...I'm hungry." she said faintly, then more to herself, "I probably look like a moron scooping up food on the floor like this. Like a dog."

"No you don't. Just go through the line again and tell the lunch ladies you dropped your food. They'll get you another one."

The girl looked over her shoulder, as though rechecking where the line was. She bit her lip, which he noticed was the only part of her face that didn't have make up. They were slightly chapped, but pink. He recognized her expression.

"You're new." he said.

She flinched, as though he had pinched her. "How-do I stand out?"

"No. I've just been in your shoes before. Here," he straightened and offered her a hand, "I'll go through the line with you. Then no one will think about it. I drop my food all the time." He didn't mention it was because the occasional bully thought it was funny to flip his tray into his face when his protective older twin wasn't looking. After Joey punched the last one and broke his nose Yugi's tray was given a wide birth. Despite being suspended for a week, Joey threatened everyone who even looked like they were thinking of picking on the short kid.

It was all kinda ironic, considering Joey use to be one of those kids who'd pick on him the most.

The girl look hesitant, and Yugi realized he had forgotten to introduce himself.

"Oh, I'm Yugi. Sorry."

She seemed to think about that for a moment, though why he didn't know. Then she finally stood up too, a tentative smile on those naked lips, though she ignored his outstretched hand.

"Angie."

"New girl?"

Joey had randomly appeared besides him, ducking his head to Angie's level, which was a good few inches taller than Yugi. She flinched wondered why she was so jumpy. Sure she had good reason to be self-conscious, but it wasn't like they were going to eat her.

"Food!" she squeaked and before Yugi or Joey could say anything else, she was off, messy, mostly empty tray still in hand. Yugi blinked.

"Okay…"

"Damn, Yug, she's worse than you."

"I do not act like that!"

Joey just laughed. "Cute."

"Stop calling me that!"

For the rest of lunch Yugi snuck peeks at the girl when he was sure Joey wasn't looking. She went through the lunch line on her own, looking especially knobbly kneed, and found a seat outside where she had intended. The sun shone off of her black hair, turning it almost blue. No one sat by her, but he noticed the few kids outside often looked over at her and ducked their heads to whisper to one another. This made Yugi mad. She was already self-conscious enough without people whispering right next to her. He hated how people thought you couldn't hear. He would know.

When the bell rang for the next period, Joey waved him off with a carrot stick sticking out of his mouth like a cigarette.

"Oh, and don't think I didn't notice you sneaking glances at that goth girl, Yug." he said.

Yugi's mouth went slightly dry as Joey cackled down the hall. A few people stared at his tall blond friend as he passed and Yugi tried to look invisible as he ducked into his next class.

And right into his brother. Yami's dark red eyes glinted.

"What are you doing?"

"Joey's being weird." said Yugi faintly.

"Ah." said Yami. "Come on, I got the easels in the corner and the cleanest paints I could find."

And then Yugi spotted her, looking just about the same as he felt. She hid in her long straight hair with her shoulders hunched over even as she listened to the art teacher explain the assignment. Yami followed his gaze.

"I saw you talking to her in the lunch room. Who is she?"

"Angie. She's new."

"She reminds me of you."

Yugi gave an exasperated sigh and grabbed his wrist. "Just stop staring."

"What? I wasn't staring, just looking."

"Sure."

He could feel Yami's stare as they maneuvered through the class of easels to the two set up in the corner. While Yugi set up his paints and brushes, he tried to covertly glance back over at Angie who sat in the corner next to them just to come eye to eye with his taller twin, who smirked.

"Could it be? Has my little brother finally found a girl he takes a liking too?"

Yugi rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Oh please. I'm just curious."

"Right." said Yami, squirting out a little plop of red paint. A partially colored picture of a tall tree speckled with flowers that had the faint shape of people sat before him.

Yugi faced his own work in progress, a small, almost cartoonish dragon. It wasn't nearly as well done as his brother's tree. Trying not to think about that, he grabbed a tube of purple. "You know I'm not stupid enough to try liking a girl."

"I hate it when you talk like that."

"Why? Because it's true?" the purple paint stuck in its tube and he growled. Stupid previous students. Didn't they know they had to close the cap all the way?

"Because it isn't." said Yami, handing Yugi a nearby plastic knife. "You should feel free to like whoever you want. Do I have to sit you in front of a mirror and have Joey chant 'You are sexy beast?'"

Yugi scraped off the dried paint. "Why Joey?"

"Because he'd be amazing at it."

"What?" then he tried picturing himself tied before a mirror with Joey behind him chanting nonsense and he shuddered. "Please don't."

"Then come, let us eyeball the new girl. I'll do it with you." he said in a sing songy voice fit for a toddler show. Yugi tried to protest, but Yami stuck his hand in his crazy hair and yanked his little brother's face towards the dark girl in the corner. Yugi squirmed frantically, knocking paintbrushes onto the floor, but Yami just switched him into a headlock.

"Look at that pale skin! And not too bad curves, even while sitting down."

"Yami-"

"And can you see those legs sticking out from that mini skirt of hers? They're in leggings mind you, but that just means she has a cute modest side."

"You jerk, stop molesting me!"

"Oh for heaven's sake, I'm not molesting you."

Several other students that had wandered in before the next bell looked back curiously. Yugi felt his face grow hot and then his insides melt as Angie too looked over, chapped lips in a little 'o' of confusion.

"Oh look! She notices."

"She can hear you, you ass!"

"Tch tch, naughty words, little brother."

"Let-me-go!"

The bell for class to begin rang. Laughing, Yami released him right as Yugi pulled, letting him go flying off his stool. The class chuckled with him and died as the art teacher took a step in front, thin lips severe and several forgotten pencils sticking out of her salt and pepper hair. She announced that they would be continuing their paintings from yesterday and clicked on the Mozart. She had a belief it helped open the inner artist.

"Do you think she'd let me put in a One Republic CD?" asked Yami as Yugi hopped back onto the stool, fallen paintbrushes in hand.

"I hate you." he said.

"Pity, I just did you a bit of good. So, what do you think of her? She ain't bad, though she could do with a little less make up. That goth look doesn't really suit her."

"I think I want to never sit next to you ever again."

Yami dipped his brush in a bit of water and lobbed up on scarlet. "Oh come on, the music's on, the class is noisy, just tell me why you keep wanting to peek over at her-I know you do."

Yugi blushed and purposely brought his head back from the move to do exactly as his brother said he would. She was sitting all alone…

He edged his dragon with purple shadows, hoping that'd make it look cooler, somehow. "Well, before you made me look like a complete moron I was thinking of asking her to come work with us. She's new, so she probably doesn't have any friends."

"That should work."

"Work?"

"Yeah. Best way to get in any girl's hot book is to become friendly with her. Not friends persay, but-"

"For the last time, I'm not checking her out nor am I thinking about dating her!"

"Yes you were."

"You wish."

"Yeah, I do." Yami rinsed off his brush and flicked it against the cup. "I know you're not gay."

"Well maybe I am." said Yugi for the sake of being contentious. His ears still thudded with his blood and he had the strongest urge to kick his brother off his stool.

Yami snorted and painted eyelashes onto his dancing tree flowers. "Sure. Whatever you want little brother. By the way, why don't you sit with me anymore? You don't have to sit on the floor, you know."

Yugi felt his gut clenched. Yami didn't know about the trash-slap incident yet, and for good reason. Yugi was lame enough without his older brother displaying his almost maniac over-protectiveness. Besides, he could take care of himself, as he insisted to Joey time and time again when he talked about telling Yami.

So Yugi said his prepared defense. "It's too crowded." Not to mention the entire table tended to clam up awkwardly whenever he was around, as though they had just been talking about him.

"You're the size of a hamster, Yugi, I'm sure you could find space."

"No need to rub it in. You're not too big yourself."

Yami smirked, "Bigger than you." And he dabbed his brush onto Yugi's cheek.

"Ahck!" Yugi swiped at him, "Oh no you didn't." and he swiped his purple onto Yami's designer sleeve. His brother's mischievous smile just widened and his almond eyes gleamed.

Before they could start a full on paint war, the last person Yugi expected appeared shyly between the paint boards. Her long mascara eyelashes fanned across her pale cheeks.

"Um, Yugi?"

Yami kicked him in the calf and tried to look oblivious. Oh, what he wouldn't do to just shove that stool beneath him without anyone noticing.

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow a pencil?" She was slightly pink across her nose and cheeks. "She forgot to give me one."

"Oh! Sure. She can be forgetful like that." he opened up his backpack and rummaged around. "Will a mechanical pencil do? It has an eraser."

"Yeah."

Once he handed her the pencil she gave a quiet 'thank you' and walked back to her easel in her corner. Yugi watched her go, letting his gaze fall back to Yami when she sat, who looked awfully stoic. He sighed and smacked his brother across the head.

"Ow!"

"Stop laughing."

"I was not! Did you hear me laugh? Uh uh."

"You were holding it in."

Yami shrugged, grinning widely, and turned back to his easel. His tree looked about ready to pop off the canvas.

"What's her name again?"

Yugi narrowed his eyes. "Why do you want to know?"

"Need to inform Joey of your new love."

That time Yugi really did kick his brother off his stool.

#$%76*$ #%

The dirt on Marik was sticky and oily. Cities. He had a love hate relationship with them. Delightfully easy to move through (stupid humans were practically blind in large numbers), but filthy. He had a thing for cleanliness.

The building besides him held him up as he leaned against it, panting. Damn, nosey birds. How dare they hit him from the sky like that! Gingerly he lifted his injured black, leathery wing, dripping with scarlet blood. Wincing, he licked at the wound. Damn them to hell. He wouldn't be flying for weeks.

"I'll kill them," he muttered past the open flesh. "Kill them. Kill all those stupid birds."

Only problem was they just tasted too damn good to kill them all. He groaned as he thought of the taste of the one boy he got a bite from. Sweeter than any ambrosia, with a powerful tangy aftertaste. Not only that but he could still feel the tingling power left over from that one morsal. To think, if he could devour one of those delicious birds whole, he shivered. And the boy had brothers too. One for all three meals of the day.

His wing gave a twinge of pain and he snarled at it involuntarily. Yes. He'd devour them all. He'd kill all the birds.

He wiped some of the oily street dirt off his arm and cackled. "Little birdies, little birdies, think you got the best of me? Think you protected your skies yet?" he stumbled down the alley, leaving his hand to slide along the old brick building. Up ahead he could hear mortals talking to one another and the crackle of fire in a barrel. His stomach rumbled and he sighed.

Humans were going to taste so bland after a bird. But, one had to eat.

Licking his fangs, he tucked his wings to his sides. The firelight played the shadows of the men against the old brick.

"Excuse me, gentlemen,"

No one passing by heard their last dying squeals. Humans, thought Marik. They all die like the pigs they were.

And taste like them too.

**Here's the new story I promised! It's totally not my style to write something this off canon, buuuut, I'm doing an experiment. Let me know what you think! I'm still a little self-conscious about this one and I might take it back just to make it my own personal story, like Smeagol to his ring (MY PRECIOUS). And if you must think of the three brothers as the three legendary knights, go for it. **

**Pika, Ya'll.**


	2. A Bloody Health Potion and a Good Start

**So, I'm on a roll with this story. This is my second chapter this week, though I usually do a chapter a week. I'll keep going with the roll, cause I got some serious plans.**

**Also, I'm holding a cute baby as I type this. ^.^ The blue eyes are watching you. O.O (How do you freaking put spaces after paragraphs in this? My lyrics are all screwed up, meh, and yes, I did write them myself, so no plaiger stickers)**

**Review, eat snacks, annnnd,**

**Pika, ya'll**

Chapter 2: A Bloody Health Potion and a Good Start

(and some fainting damsels)

Angie came home with the sensation of thousands of little bubbles under her skin. She couldn't stop smiling and she practically skipped to the kitchen at six to make dinner for her and Cain. She hummed a nonsense song under her breath as she took out the ingredients for the casserole she was going to make for herself and the slab of meat for Cain. For his health, he only ate the meat in the bottom two drawers of the freezer. He told her it was a rare breed of boar known for its healthy antioxidants from all the berries it ate, but told her never to even taste it due to it was medicated. She had never been tempted, because it smelt awful to her. As she turned on the gas burner to cook it she made sure to put the paper clip she kept nearby to pinch her nose closed before turning to her own vegetable and salmon casserole.

Her godfather slipped in at the bar as she cut her carrots, laptop slipped under his arm. His leather wings rustled with the soft sound of large blankets being flapped against each other. He graced her with a small, fanged smile.

"How was school?" he asked.

"Marvelous!" she said, her voice a bit nasally due to her nose plug, but her godfather said nothing about it. "I read ahead in the topic matter so I had a pretty easy time understanding what the teachers were talking about, and I loved art class! I'm painting a picture for you, I hope you like it."

"I probably will." he said.

"And I've never seen so many mortals my age all in one spot! Except, everything seems different than how they are in the stories."

She flipped his steak over, watching the dark juices bubble.

"Did you keep a low profile?"

"Yep!"

"Tell me all the people you talked to."

"Okay, um…" it wasn't hard. She could count on her hand the number of people. "The teachers, only what was necessary, of course. The lunch ladies, and…" her stomach did a tiny squiggle of uncertainty. "A boy named Yugi."

Cain looked up sharply and she looked away with the intention of chopping up vegetables. She didn't want to meet his eyes, though she wasn't entirely sure why.

"Why do you know his name?" he asked, voice sharp.

"He just told it to me, I didn't ask."

"Why were you talking to him?"

"Well, I sort of accidentally dropped my food and he just kind of appeared to help me. He also leant me a pencil."

Cain snorted. "I don't like the sounds of him."

"I won't get friendly, I swear. Besides, he seems pretty harmless."

"They always appear like that."

"No really! He's really small and has these big eyes that could be from a cartoon. He also talks really quiet, I think he's shy."

Cain just grunted and started to type. Silently sighing in relief that she hadn't gotten in trouble for that small lapse in her promise, she loaded the steak onto a plate and set it next to his laptop. He said nothing as she turned back to load her minced vegetables and fish into a casserole dish and into the oven. She turned around and leaned against the counter, hands behind her back.

"So, how was your day?" she asked.

"Usual. Tiring." he took the fork and knife and started on his steak. "And I'm feeling rather weak. I need you to give me a sip tonight."

Her guts clenched as they often did when he said this. She thought that since it happened at least a few times a month she would have gotten use to it, but the whole procedure gave her chills and she didn't know when she'd get use to the pain. She tried not to let that all show, though. It was for Cain's health. If she had the same issues as him, she knew he'd do the same for her.

"All right. Now?"

"No. Eat first. You'll need it."

She nodded and, after checking the timer, she got her book bag by the door and went into the living room to work on her homework. She'd never had homework before, and she went at it like a child to some ice cream. It helped to distract her from what would come after dinner.

By the time the timer rang she had finished and she hopped up with Othello to her chest, the story they were studying for English. She had done her reading for the night, but she wanted to read ahead.

She ate her food slowly. To her relief, Cain didn't watch. His eyes stayed glued to the computer screen.

Unavoidably, she finished her food. She put hers and Cain's dishware in the dishwasher and put the leftovers of her casserole in the fridge for lunch tomorrow. Then, steadying herself, she turned around and forced a smile on.

"Okay. Where do you want me?'

"The usual."

She walked to the big leather sofa, trying to steady her nerves.

A minute later Cain clicked off his laptop and came over, leathery wings shifting as he walked. He gave her a tight lip smile and sat down next to her. Her hands started to sweat and she cursed herself. Every time. As casually as she possibly could, she leaned back against the couch (squashing her tied up wings in the process), closed her eyes, and tipped up her chin.

"Good." said Cain.

She couldn't hear him breathing as he leaned in and rubbed his nose briefly against her neck. Then he finally inhaled and she tensed as his fangs pressed against her skin.

Steady, she told herself. Steady.

Then he bit in.

A minute later, her heart racing and her head spinning with pain, he pulled back and rubbed his thumb over the wound, leaving nothing left by a white, crescent shaped scar. He graced her with a smile, not a trace of blood left on his lips.

"Good girl," he murmured, "thank you, my daughter. Now head to bed. It will help you make up for the loss."

"I'll be okay." she said, though when she stood her vision darkened a bit and her head felt light enough to float away. She said good night, did her best to grab her book bag without shaking, and made her way up the stairs to her room. She felt a little clammy as she finally made it to the top and had to lean against the bathroom doorway for a minute before she could drop off her school stuff and get into her large, walk in shower.

For the first time that day she untied the illusionary shawl on her back and let her wings out. They were ugly and grey as usual, with the feathers rather ruffled. Her bathroom was big enough for her to spread them out wide for a stretch. It felt so marvelous she almost felt back to normal. She flapped a bit, loving the feel of the muscles working.

The air moving through her feathers made her dream. She dreamed of the feel of the sun on her face outside in the cafeteria courtyard, how blue the sky looked, the smell of the open air. Though she loved everything about school, being outside without a care was by far her favorite. And tomorrow (she shuddered in anticipation), tomorrow she'd get to go out again.

One day, she thought, one day Cain would teach her how to fly, and oh what a marvelous day that would be. One day Cain would tell her her wings were finished growing and take her up into the mountains beneath the moonlight, with the clean air, the trees, the grass, the dirt…

She turned on a cold shower to help her head feel less light from the blood loss. She was so lost in her daydreams that she didn't notice the dark water running down the drain and into the water.

When she got out with a towel wrapped around her waist, feathers dripping, and a bottle of make up remover in her hand, she looked in the mirror to find her natural white-silver hair, untouched by the hair dye. She stared. Then dug out the hair dye box from the trash can. It had been a really good brand, and she had reread five times that it was suppose to be permanent for at least a month. But as she re-read the instruction booklet and the back, nothing said anything about the dye washing out after the first day. She looked back up at herself in the mirror in dismay. Silver eyebrows, same silver eyelashes, dripping with mascara.

She was going to need a lot more dye than she originally bought.

! #$%&^%^$%# !$%^

Yami and Joey munched out of a family size bag of Ruffles on Yugi's bedroom floor. Yugi bit his lip and shuffled the pages of penciled music staffs unnecessarily. The red on light of his keyboard intimidated him, where before it use to open up the magical quiet just for him.

The potatoes crunched loudly in that silence now.

"This first one I'm not entirely sure on," he said, still fidgeting with papers. "I mean, I'm no artist."

"Just play it." said Yami.

"Okay, um, do you want, uh, your parts individually first or the lyrics or-"

"We want you to play it." said Joey. "Whole thing, lyrics and all."

Yugi's neck felt hot. "Well, I can't play my part and yours at the same time...can I just read the lyrics off for you?"

"Good crap, we've heard you sing before, why are you acting like this?" said Yami, looking beyond annoyed. "Just go!"

With a flinch Yugi dropped the papers on the stand and put his fingers down on the keyboard. He already felt wet underneath his arms and between his legs from sweat. Telling himself over and over again that he'd played and sung for Joey and Yami before and that he was being an idiot, he took a deep steadying breath. Left hand on the end of the keyboard set up with synthetic drums and right hand on the top set at guitar, he put his foot on the pedal, and started. The drums started with a steady beat, willing him to just listen. His right hand moved on instinct when the right beat came and he felt his heartbeat steady.

The music. All he had to do was listen to the music. It didn't matter what anyone thought anymore

"_Head in the clouds, don't want to come down, what's so great about earth," _he started in his reedy tenor, "_up here the sky is blinding blue with a wider heavenly berth."_

In the pause before the first time through the chorus, he heard a potato chip crunched. His focused shattered and the intense feeling of stupidity returned. His fingers stumbled.

"What you stopping for?" asked Joey. "Sounded awesome."

Yugi ducked his chin to his chest, letting his bangs hide his eyes. "No it doesn't. The lyrics are stupid."

Yami's expression hardened into a look he often took on when he wouldn't be refused. His brother's stubbornness could be legendary. "Yugi, play."

He sighed, started up the drums again, and went from the top.

"_Head in the clouds, don't want to come down,_

_what's so great about earth?_

_Up here the sky is blinding blue_

_with a wider heavenly berth._

_But every time it rains_

_it all comes crashing down,_

_eyes still full of blue skies-and freedom_

_wailing at the clouds that let me down_

_let me down:_

_why?_

_How could it be better away from the weather_

_with more soul than dirt could hold?_

_The thrones, the thistles, _

_the heart breaking cold!_

_Even flowers and trees fade away._

_But every time it rains_

_it all comes crashing down,_

_eyes still full of blue skies-and freedom,_

_wailing at the clouds that let me down_

_let me down:_

_why?"_

Yugi crash his fingers on the guitars and drums, holding down the pedal tight and turning up the volume with his dexterous pinky.

"_Why! Why! Why!" _he sang, puncturing each why with a beat. Something within him no one ever saw and which he tried to ignore came up in those why's, and he could hear it. The sound made him clam up again and, without meaning to, he went down into a picasso when his music still went on in forte.

"_Head in the clouds, don't want to come down,_

_ what's so great about earth?_

_ Up here the skies are always blue_

_ and the sun's always out._

_ But wait...they aren't._

_ Cause every time it rains_

_ it all comes crashing down,_

_ eyes still full of blue skies-and freedom,_

_ wailing at the clouds that let me down_

_ let me down,"_

Yugi drifted a bit as he repeated the chorus again, following the tinkling strums of the guitar on his keyboard. He wasn't entirely sure where his thoughts were when he ended on the last 'why,' but he recognized this feeling. It made him want to be alone. It made him want to shut everyone out, close the curtains, and hide in his shower till his skin wrinkled up and the hot water long gone cold.

He snapped out of his revere when Yami and Joey gave a holler, a chip in each hand raised in the air like a salute.

"Awesome!" said Yami.

"We're going to be rich!" crowed Joey.

"I can't wait till we can hear the song with your keyboard part."

Yugi, whose blood seemed to always coil so close to the surface on his face, blushed heatedly and smiled, just a little pleased. "You really think that was good?"

"No, I thought that was a tribute to Tea's laugh-_yes_ I thought it was good! Are you freaking kidding me?" said Joey, clashing his chips together triumphantly. "It's so awesome I feel like getting up right now and driving to the junkyard! That carport is the ticket to our futures, guys!"

"Don't you think that's a little over the top?" said Yugi. "I mean, it's just a song…"

"But it's going to be _our_ song, little brother." said Yami, smile proud. "And you've got something going on, for sure."

"Can't wait for tomorrow now. Junkyard day, junkyard day!" with a satisfied crunch Joey mashed both of his chips in his mouth and hummed in happiness.

"You got any more?" asked Yami.

"Uh, yeah, I got two more, but let me give you guys your music first."

Yami and Joey chattered through their chips happily about the song as they received the music Yugi had written up for each of their parts. The smallest boy, however, hid behind his smile.

For though the song had ended, the urge to run hadn't.

! #$%^&*&%^$# !$

The sun shone bright. Marik glared at where it made a square of painful brightness on the clean cement floor. If he was going to stay here till his wing healed, he would have to cover up that window sooner or later or risk getting burned. With a growl he turned back to the two bodies leaning against the wall underneath a poster of naked girls, clutching at their breasts. One of the dead men's bodies had no arms. Marik grunted to himself.

"I should have kept the other alive," he said to himself, "human goes bad so quickly. Maybe there's a fridge…"

He found the fridge in the corner, or what passed as a fridge. It was one of those cheap, tiny square one's used by college students. Annoyed, he kicked one of the dead mens' shoes and glared at their faces, as though the horrified expression permanently etched into their frozen faces had offended him.

"Didn't you have enough of a life to get a real fridge?" he kicked the shoe again and the armless man's head lolled onto his companion's shoulder. Marik flicked his wild blond hair over his shoulder with a aggravated flick.

"Whatever. You guys taste nasty anyway. Do all you eat is junk food and alcohol?"

They stared back at him glassily. He snorted and went to examine the rest of the basement apartment. Besides a messy bedroom with two mattresses on the floor, a small filthy bathroom, a counter kitchenette against the wall, and the main living room where the bodies sat, the apartment had nothing else. As he kicked through layers of dirty clothes and rotting food, Marik grew more and more angry and twitchier. Why did humans have to be so freaking, hell be damned _filthy?_ He couldn't take this, he couldn't stay in a feceses infest animal hole like this!

The sun, however, didn't waver in its intensity through the window. He was stuck here.

Cursing up and down the alphabet, Marik dug underneath the bathroom sink and pulled out several dusty, cobwebbed bottles of cleaner and a large roll of black garbage bags. Testing each bottle to see if they worked, he left the bottles on the bathroom floor and went back to the leftovers of his previous meal. He snapped open a garbage vengefully as he glared down at them.

"You two aren't even worth snacking on."

And with that he ripped off their limbs with satisfying 'pops' and stuffed them into layers of layers of garbage bags. Then because he could no longer stand the scent of their dirty bodies (he was beginning to regret eating those arms), he dared to open the door and threw them out into the shady stairwell to take to the dump once the sun went down.

"Now I have to clean up after you." he snarled. "Did your mothers ever teach you how to clean up after yourselves? Damn pigs."

He slammed the door and went back to the bathroom where the cleaning supplies waited. At least he had something to do until the sun went down.

Soon, bags of the boys' reeking clothes joined them in the stairwell along with their smelly bedclothes. Then, with claws cracking and wings flapping, he cackled as he proceeded to bury their bodies and all they owned with the piles of trash they previously deemed livable.

As the room turned red with sunset, Marik stood where the blood had pooled from the disgusting humans with bleach in one hand and one of the boys shirts in the other, eye balling the pornographic poster on the wall. He cocked his head to the side, frowning.

"You'd think they'd come up with more attractive art." shaking his head, he tore down the poster, balled it up, and stuffed it into the most recent black bag. There was nothing more disgusting than human women, especially naked ones. Wingless, skin colored, posed in unnatural positions, lumpy-he gagged to himself. All this was doing a number on him. Those damn birds were going to die for the work they put on him, making him lower himself to the pits of human dwellings to take shelter from the day. He remembered his comfy shady loft on the top floor of an abandoned building in the suburbs and cursed them all the more. As he wiped at the blood and filth on the floor, he imagined it was his claws running through each stupid bird boy, feathers flying, their faces wracked with horror.

And then he'd wash down the bad taste of filthy human with that sweet, empowering blood of theirs.

As the sky turned a rich navy, Marik tied up the last bag and opened the door. Piles of garbage bags filled the stairwell, and his nerves sprung up. Filth and more filth. He couldn't stand it, he couldn't stand it, he couldn't stand it-blood pounded through his head, his eyes widened till he was sure they'd pop out of his head.

It had to go now, all of it, even if it took him all night. The dump was a few miles on the outskirts of town, though, and thinking about it made him stomp his feet on the ground like a child till his injured wing protested.

Then he heard voices and a growl of an engine.

His neighbors had come home. Two teenager girls, laughing, hands carrying in boxes of Bud Light with their hooped earrings gleaming in the streetlights.

And they had just closed the door to a bright red, beat up truck.

A wide, maniac smile spread across Marik's face.

"What a marvelous little truck, and it comes with dinner."

No better deal than that.

! #$%^&*(^%$# $%^

The next day at lunch, Yugi went to find Angie before Joey could follow him and tease him. He had had enough of that this morning when Yami and Joey had chosen to throw the now stale potato chips at him and chant her name. Those two really were horrible people.

She sat outside in her usual spot, a plastic tupperware in her hands and her fork in her mouth. She seemed to be thinking hard about something, eyes on the sky.

"Hey, Angie!"

Again she jumped and looked back at him. She looked paler than usual, if that were possible, but today her lips were caked with black lipstick. Her straight hair gleamed its usual blue-black in the sun.

She dropped her fork. "Yugi?"

"Do you want to sit with us?"

Her expression turned guarded and she stabbed her food in the tupperware.

"I can't. Sorry."

Yugi spirit deflated. He resisted the urge to slump.

"Why not?"

"I'm not suppose to catch attention." she said, almost hesitantly, "it's a long story."

"Well you'll catch less attention if you're not sitting all alone. The kids who sit out here come so they can gossip and smoke without the teacher's attention. Everyone will think you're one of them." When her eyes widened and her face blanched, he rushed to explain with, "it's not that I think of you that way or am trying to push you into doing anything or...dang it. Forget it. I'm sorry for bothering you."

He averted his eyes as he turned his back and went back to the door, where a Joey now waited with a certain smirk that always made Yugi want to punch him. When the smirk widened and he heard the tapping of feet behind him, he turned, heart leaping.

Angie had her tupperware clutched to her chest, eyes nervous. "Actually, can I…"

Then her eyelids drooped and she slumped to the ground. The fork in her hand tinkled as it hit the cement.

Yugi panicked. Joey jumped to his side, and the usual crowd in the courtyard fell silent.

"Angie!" he dropped and waved his hands like an idiot as he couldn't decide whether to touch her or not. "Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"I think she passed out." said Joey, using two fingers to check her pulse. Her eyes fluttered open at his touch and she shot up, nearly breaking Joey's arm and Yugi's face in the process.

"Wha-what?" she blinked hard and looked around. Then, oddly, she reached behind her with both arms and didn't take a breath till she had felt something on her back.

Yugi picked up her tupperware (which was luckily closed before she dropped it), and handed it to her. "Are you okay?"

The courtyard had gone abuzz with mutterings. A few kids crowded in the doorway curiously.

"I'm fine." she said lowly.

"Oy, buzz off!" Joey yelled.

The students in the doorway and windows scattered. No one wanted their noses broken, or any other part of their body, for that matter.

"What happened?" asked Yugi. "Do you remember?"

"I'm fine. It happens all the time."

"All the time?" said Joey in disbelief. "Have you seen a doctor for this?"

"It's just my low-blood pressure. I got up too fast." picking up her fork with trembling fingers, she glanced around. Then, in nearly a whisper, she asked, "Yugi, how do I get them to stop looking at me?"

"They'll stop eventually."

"But...but now I stand out, don't I?"

If Yugi wasn't so worried about the fact that a girl had just fainted in front of him, he would have wondered how this standing out business was starting to sound like an obsession rather than a healthy reaction to being in a new school. "Just come sit with us. They'll talk for a few days, but they'll forget about you, especially if you're with me." Yugi smiled weakly. "I'm...not that popular."

"But I am," said Joey, busting a pose. He smiled happily when she giggled and moved to get to her feet.

"We should go before someone tells the teachers."

Too late. When they sat down inside against the windows, the hall monitor and a lunch lady trotted up.

"We heard a girl fainted, was that you?" the lunch lady leaned on her knees to look at Angie as though she were five. "Do you feel hot, dear? Eat enough?"

"You should go to the nurse." said the teacher.

Angie looked more than just embarrassed. She looked devastated. She said nothing, and Yugi felt obliged to explain to the adults that she just had low-blood pressure and got up to quickly. The teacher said something about his sister having that and she passed out occasionally as well before they'd leave.

Angie stared down at her tupperware, face hidden by hair. Yugi scrambled for something to say.

Joey beat him to it.

"What brings you to Domino high?"

She glanced up at him, raccoon expression thoughtful. Then, she blinked, and her mouth tipped into the first smile Yugi had seen for the first time. She opened up her tupperware. Something seemed to change about her demeanor, but Yugi couldn't put his finger on what.

"I've been homeschooled up until now and my godfather thought I'd enjoy public school for once."

Ah, homeschooled, that explained a lot.

"Godfather?"

"Yeah, my parents died when I was younger. Don't remember them, so don't feel bad." she took a bite of some of her fish, smile still in place.

! #$%&^*()*&^%$#

That was it. She was busted. Her promise was dust in the wind. Once the school day ended she'd be locked up back home, returned to her computer and books for knowledge, and never again would she be able to mingle with others in the sun.

So Angie figured it wouldn't hurt to enjoy herself. Since she had already broken her promise, falling into the temptation to talk with Yugi and his friends couldn't get her in more trouble than she already was.

Besides, she'd never see him again anyways.

She chatted with him and his tall, gangly blond friend, Joey. All her first impressions about Yugi proved to be right as he showed genuine interest in her, smiled kindly, and offered anything he could give to make her more comfortable. Joey was equally nice, but in a crude, sarcastic, silly sort of way. She liked him that way anyhow, for he made her laugh more than she could remember doing at one time. Cain wasn't the most humorous person to live with.

In art class, Yugi invited her to sit with him and his twin brother, who could have been his mirror image if it wasn't for the fact he was taller, fitter, and had sharp almond eyes the color of rubies. She tried to smile at him, but the fierce way his face was built in contrast to Yugi's reminded her too much of Cain on his off days, even though there was nothing cruel in the way he greeted and smiled at her. This man was kind, possibly as kind as Yugi.

She sat in-between them, her picture in front of her. She carefully dabbed at the clouds in the background. A large beautiful white bird, soaring through beams of sunlight peeking through the storm clouds, took up the center. Yami and Yugi watched her, their own paintbrushes, still full of paint, forgotten. A bit of green had started a steady drip onto Yugi's pant leg.

"Wow, you're good." said Yami.

"Woa." said Yugi.

"I am?" she said, feeling pleased. Cain had bought her paints when she was younger and bored so she'd leave him be to work. Since he gave her nothing to paint on, she had proceeded to paint on her walls. He rarely came up to her room, so he didn't say anything about it. With nothing else to do in the dark house, she painted her way to a world of sunlight, skies, and flight. She had recently turned to painting a forest in her walk in closet, which was empty due to she didn't have many clothes in the first place.

But she had never thought if she were any good or not. It wasn't like anyone would ever see.

"Where'd you learn to paint like that?" asked Yami, and Yugi nodded as though meaning to ask the same thing.

She shrugged. "I didn't have anything else to do. Being home schooled can get real...boring." she meant to say 'lonely' but changed it at the last second.

"So you just painted?" said Yugi.

"Among other things."

"Like what?"

Her chest felt so warm. She should be shy. All the kids she read about in books that didn't have lots of contact with people were, but she just felt elated. She loved this. She loved talking like this, sharing her thoughts, her opinions, having someone talk about her, being able to talk about someone else.

"Well, I got this really huge shower at home," she said, happily cleaning off her brush to start on the bird, "and it's really echoey, so since I was little I'd always sing in it. I don't know if I'm any good, though. Do you sing?"

"Do we sing." said Yami scathingly, and for a moment she was afraid she said something wrong. But then he beamed and how handsome his face looked threw her off. "Of course we do!"

"We have a band!" said Yugi, and when she saw how his smile lit up his face, she was surprised to see how much he mirrored his twins handsomeness, in a kinder, softer sort of way. This is the kind of person I'd want to be with when I'm sad, she thought then, that's the kind of person he is. But then she felt herself grow more excited.

"You have a band? Like, a real one?"

"What other kind is there?" asked Yugi.

She nearly dropped her paintbrush. "I love music! I've listened to so many bands on CD but I've never heard one in person-can you play for me?"

Yami and Yugi looked overwhelmed for a moment, both with their mouths opened. Seeing their shocked faces, she backtracked, certain that this time she really did say something wrong. She opened her mouth to apologize, but Yugi beat her to it.

"Sure! You can be the first one to hear us in our new premise."

"Premise?"

"We're cleaning out our parents garage." said Yami, suddenly looking distracted and looking back at his painting. "But we have to build a carport first for our stepdad's old junk car. Can you wait till then?"

She went to agree wholeheartedly, when she stopped, heart falling. Once this day was over…

Cain would never, ever, in her wildest dreams ever allow it.

She dipped her paintbrush in the light blue and went back to her bird. "Actually, I just remembered. I can't."

"Why not?" asked Yugi.

"My godfather. He'd never allow it."

"Are we too creepy?" asked Yami, as though the beginning of a joke.

"No, it's just…"

The art teacher dinged her bell, signaling time to clean up. Yugi realized his leg had a puddle of green all over it and yelped out a curse. Her and Yami laughed and whatever dark thought she was thinking faded from the front of her mind.

As they all packed up their supplies, Yami attempted to continue the conversation.

"No, really, you should come, " he said, "especially if you love music. You could sing for us too and we'll let you know if you're any good."

"Maybe you could even sing for our band!" said Yugi.

Yami glared and slung on his backpack. "I thought we already decided I was singing."

Yugi wilted. "I'm not saying you're not any good, Yami, it's just…"

"What? Come on. Say it, I know what you're thinking."

Yugi winced. "You can't play guitar and sing at the same time, and also the leg thing."

"What leg thing?"

And then the bell rang, signalling the end of class. Angie felt the incredible happiness inside her melt away. Two more periods without these kind people and she'd be back home, back to the darkness.

She picked up her book bag.

"You know, the leg thing, with the tapping and the boots and the-augh, fine, it's not that bad."

"There wasn't a problem with it in the first place!"

She lingered, wanting to hear more. These people were real. They weren't voices coming out of a book or a screen. These twins were fascinating, their friend funny, this world so big and bright.

She hesitated as she slipped her half done bird away into the art classroom's storage cubby. So high in the sky, so close to the sun…

She felt her wings against her back.

She felt the scar on her neck, hidden by hair, give an echo of pain. Cain said it was dangerous out here for her. She was an ugly, mutated mistake without being related to the daemons. Wings were one thing, but she...if the twins ever knew, heck, if anyone ever knew, then she couldn't say what would happen. Cain would have to abandon her for his safety, probably. Then she'd really be alone, with who knows what the mortals would send out at her.

To fly, but oh, what about to be normal?

"I already said you can sing, I'm not going to take your spotlight."

"This has nothing to do with spotlight, it's just annoying how you keep hinting I should sing when you're too afraid to do it yourself. That's it, I'm tying you in front of a mirror and getting Joey-"

"Oh, come on!"

"Nope, the treatment is coming. You've pushed me to far."

"Yami!"

She pushed her painting the rest of the way, a sense of hope and fear rising in her at the same time. But she shouldn't be worried. She would get the chance to finish this painting, as well as listen to the twins and laugh with Joey again. The teachers would answer her questions about the world without discriminating, as she read they were trained for, and the library would always be open to her. The paints would never run out, and each lunch she would go outside and sit in that beautiful, warm, bright sun.

"Angie, what's your next period? I'll walk with you."

She smiled at Yami, who stood besides his smaller, scowling twin.

Yeah. The lie would be worth it.


	3. Body Bag and Wrong Dreams

**To those who are reading, hi. :3 This story is a bit slower than how I usually pace things. I guess I wanted to try taking my time. You know, make it seem realistic. Besides, I got to set everything up so all the characters can come crashing down in an unorganized, bloody mess. **

**Please, review, let me know what ya think. It's how I get better. (Man, I feel like such a lard craving donuts like this. Maple bar, first one of the morning, with the KrispyKreme sort of melt in your mouth fluffiness….haaaaaaaaaaah.)**

**Pika, ya'all**

**p.s. please excuse any minor edits that need to be done. My husband won't let me read this aloud to him anymore so I can edit after the whole 'godfather demon sucking on naive little girl's blood' stuff. It's too much for him. (Pansy)**

Chapter 3: Body Bag and Wrong Dreams

(and a girl too hawt to be legal)

Jim's yelling sounded like roaring. Mom's lark-like protests, though equal in volume, always quavered with tears. Yugi let the familiar icky tar-like sensation have its moment in his chest before plugging sound-blocking headphones into his keyboard and drowning it out. He closed his eyes and listened to where his fingers were leading him. There were velvet like words rising to his mind from somewhere in his gut rather than his lungs. Every once in a while he would stop just long enough to write the words down in his notebook. When Jim's or his mother's thunder itched to make itself heard through the music, he'd start to sing softly.

At some point he stopped to write down another line to see Yami leaning against his bedpost with his chin on his knees and his fists clenched. His eyes were wild, his mouth hard. The door to his bedroom was still closed, though, and now locked.

Yugi lowered his headphones. "Yami?"

"They're fighting again." he said.

"What else is new? Do you know about what this time?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not. I got a splitter and another pair of headphones on my dresser if you want."

Yami floated to the dresser, eyes on the door. Yugi could hear it too. Sobbing. Yami's knuckles went white.

"Bastard-"

"Stay out of it." said Yugi, trying to remember where his fingers were last.

"That's our mother out there!"

"And she chose him. I talked to her earlier. She doesn't want us to mess in it, we just make it worse. Just get the headphones and plug them in."

"I can't believe you can say that so cooly."

Yugi looked up hard at his brother, trying to loosen his suddenly tense jaw to speak. "I respect her and her choices. You can't always force people to do what's best for them. Besides," he turned back to the keys, "who are we to say what's best for her? She's afraid of being alone. She loves him."

His brother only growled and stuffed the headphones on his head, then jammed Yugi's headphone jack into the splitter along with his own and stuck it into the keyboard. Yugi went through a few relaxing chords before slipping into a song he thought would help, watching his twin out the corner of his eye, who smiled weakly. His angry gaze softened.

"Of course," he said, "thank you, Yugi."

"I know you."

"Better than anyone."

The chords rolled up and down the keys, tinkling in the high keys now and then, strong, brave, noble, with just an edge of sadness. It was a song he had written for his brother years ago for a christmas present. The song was one of the few sure fire ways to calm his brother, who often had a terrible temper. Even now Yugi watched as the heat melted from Yami's face and his eyes closed.

Yugi felt a vibrate in his pocket at the same time Yami did. It was from Joey.

**Aaaand hes out. Be there in 5.**

The text couldn't have come a second too soon as their mother pounded on their bedroom door. Yami took off his headphones to let her in, blotchy faced and tearful. Strawberry blond hair stuck to her face and her thin wrists shook against her hips.

"We're leaving, boys. Get your stuff."

"We can't, mom," said Yami bluntly, "our friend Joey is on his way. We already made plans to get parts for the carport."

Their mother's eyes sparked something similar to the way Yami's eyes did when his rage flared up. "You aren't going to be building a carport."

"Then at least-" started Yugi, who had also taken off his headphones, but Yami broke in with a forced calm.

"Mom, you do this every month. You'll just bring us back by tonight anyways and everything will be as though nothing has ever happened. We're sixteen years old. We'll take care of ourselves."

Her eyes widened and before she could say anything else, Yami shut the door in her face and locked it once more. Before either of them could hear the results of his brashness, Yami had stuffed the headphones back on his head and glared at the keyboard, daring Yugi to say something.

Yugi bit his lip and continued to play his brother's song to stall for time. He needed to think carefully what he was going to say next.

When Joey texted them, they walked through the house as though it were but mist. Their mother had vanished and Jim sat at the TV, purposefully trying to make a show that he wasn't in the least affected or moved by his wife's tears. Yugi stopped, all the air in his body pushing against the back of his throat for a scream. It was wrong. This made him feel so nasty. He wouldn't-

But then he was out of the house and the cool spring air breathed against his face, and he couldn't remember walking out the door. He looked over at his brother as they walked to the blotchy old sea green truck. He still held that angry, wild look.

Joey took one looks at their faces and said nothing as he reveresed out of the driveway. The truck smelt of cigarette smoke and something rotten. Half-way to the junkyard he dared to start a conversation.

"So, um, you up for burgers after this?"

"Don't you have to get the truck back before your dad notices it's gone?"

"Let me worry about that."

In other words, Joey knew they didn't want to go back home.

Suddenly, Yami slammed his fists on the cracked dashboard. Joey and Yugi jumped.

"I hate him!"

"Yami-"

"Did he ask if he could be a part of my family? She was our mother first and now he thinks he can just treat her however he likes-"

"They're getting better-"

"Better?! Damn it, Yugi, will you stop acting like it's nothing!"

Yugi spluttered. "Some people's parents just fight, and Jim's going through a hard time right now-"

"It's always like that! He goes through a hard time and takes it out on mom! I don't care how he treats us, but I won't stand for that, when we go home I'm going to shove my shoe through that stupid wide screen TV he loves so much-"

"Yami-"

"-and I'll tell him exactly what I think! He hates hearing that, after all."

"No you won't," said Yugi quietly.

Any normal person would have cowered underneath the furious glower his brother aimed at him, but Yugi just stared him down unflinchingly. He knew his brother.

"He gives us a home, he gives mom a home, and you know he'll just bring that up if you say anything. He might take it out on mom."

"I won't let him!"

"How? Fight him? Mom wouldn't forgive you. Besides," Yugi sighed, "like it or not, he's our dad now. For mother, we have to do our best."

Fuming, Yami crossed his arms so tight against his chest that his leather jacket squeaked. Joey tapped the steering wheel awkwardly. They didn't say another word till they had

turned into the junkyard check in barrier, where a seedy looking man chewing on sat in the guard house. Joey stopped at the barrier.

"Uh, we'd like to go in." said Joey.

The guard just jabbed at a sign next to the window. Various fees lined the board. Yugi didn't need to look closer to realize they wouldn't be able to go in. None of them would be able to afford it. The most they had on hand were a few dollars to get those burgers Joey mentioned, and from Mcdonalds dollar menu at that.

Joey cursed. "What the-are you serious?"

The guard spat out a black, wet lob of tobacco out the window onto the road. "You got a problem with that, kid?"

"Yeah, I do, are you seriously charging us for junk?"

The man smiled dryly, showing yellow stained teeth. "Must not be junk if you're here, eh?"

Joey glared knives at the man and backed out without saying anything. He drove till he was a street or two over from the junk then parked and let the truck idle.

"So...what now?" he asked.

"Um…we could sell something?"

"Nah, let's just get Yami to date Tea. She's loaded, isn't she?"

Yami just looked at Joey until he quailed against the door. Obviously he was still in a bad mood.

"I don't think it's a good idea to pretend to love someone for money." said Yugi.

"Unless it's for a good cause." said Joey.

"Granted."

Yugi leaned back, fingers to his chin and feet on the dashboard. "I guess we could just go down in quality. I hear you can find good stuff at the dump if you're willing, and that's free. It just cost to dump stuff there."

Both Joey and Yami wrinkled their noses in Yugi's direction. As Joey moved to tell him something along the lines of 'no way, hosea,' by the look on his face, Yami suddenly busted into an evil smirk and let out a single bark like laugh.

"Perfect," he said, "a carport made of trash. Fits him and his rust bucket bug. Let's do it."

"Wait, are you kidding me? Isn't the fumes suppose to be enough to kill you?"

"Yes, Joey, whoever sets foot into the dump will die of nostril poisoning. You better not come, it's far too dangerous."

"Shut up."

Ten minutes later at the end of a long dirt road at the edge of town, they reached the dump. Mottled colored land spread out as far as the eye could see, speckled with metal that glinted in the sun with tractors roaming about like cattle. All three of the boys grimaced as they explained to the surprisingly cleaner and more pleasant security guard that they were just looking for scrap metal to build a carport. He downright congratulated them for caring for the future by choosing to man even directed them to an area where they gathered the metal, offering them a small hand drawn map. With one last warning about tetanus (among other various diseases), he opened the gates. As they drove in, trying to make the rotting apple and mud smell of the landfill less than it was, Yami seemed to finally make a comeback from his foul mood.

"Screw the junkyard, it's the dump from now on, guys." he said.

"Amen!"

"Maybe those dumpster divers aren't as crazy as I always thought." said Joey.

"You're just saying that because it's you now." said Yugi.

"Bananas." said Joey.

Yami sighed. "You're get out of jail free card. You're so cheap."

The land of sheet metal and dead cars welcomed them with a thousand reflected suns. They slipped on their gloves and dove in. At one point Joey started up a round of Bohemian Rhapsody, but due to their distance from one another they had to shout the lyrics at the top of their lungs. By the end they had fallen into their respective piles of old metal, laughing-avoiding nails and sharp metal, of course.

"Hey guys, check this out." Joey hefted up a giant metal cone, splotched with red paint and rust.

"What do you think it was for?" asked Yugi as he made his way closer to Joey. Yami just looked on from a few feet away, laughing at the cone, but continuing his search.

"Cliffords cone of shame?" said Joey, grinning.

"Nah, it'd have to be white." said Yugi.

"How come?"

"Its law for cones of shame, don't question me."

"How about...an oil funnel for a monster truck."

"Lame! It's a failed Lady Gaga dress."

"No way. It's a giant's boob guard."

"With the nipple out? You're such a perv, Joey."

Then above them came a terrified, high pitched bleat from the person they thought incapable of making such a noise. "G-guys!"

Yugi and Joey dropped the giant cone and ran to Yami, who stood ramrod straight, palor grey in the sun. At first all Yugi saw was a black bag, tucked away with a bunch of others against an old riveted sheet of tin. Then Yugi's stomach jumped to his throat.

A hand, covered in dried blood, had fallen out of one, along with one, open, opaque eye in a man's face. His hair was dark brown and spilled over his blue bicep. The other had long ago been picked out by birds.

"Guys," croaked Yami, "I think that's a body."

Joey coughed and turned to leap down their mound of metal, just to throw up somewhere behind them. Yugi could feel his own stomach threatening the same, but he was afraid to barf. That would somehow make it real.

Yami, however, just took out his phone and dialed 911.

"Hey, yeah, um, we found a body at the dump. A human one."

Then Yugi made the mistake of looking again at the dead man's face and noticed his tongue had decayed in his mouth and a maggot was wriggling past his lips.

He didn't even make it as far as Joey. He threw up right there on the spot.

Yami just gave directions and made his way to the truck to wait.

! $#%^&*(&^%$#

Angie made dinner for Cain as normally as possible while not saying much. The less she said, the less likely her bad lying skills would show. For once she was grateful that Cain had his eyes glued to his laptop and fingers that only left his keyboard to eat the steak she cooked for him.

Right before she left, though, he called her name. She stopped, feathers on end beneath her illusionary shawl.

"Yes?"

"How attached are you to school?"

She felt her heart drop to her stomach. "Oh, more than I can say. I love it! It's the best thing you've given me so far."

He grunted and eyed her for a bit, as though considering what he saw. Then, with a frown, he looked back to his laptop.

"I need you to come straight home after school. Right onto the bus, then right off here, nowhere else."

She cocked her head to the side, confused. "Um, I wasn't planning on going anywhere. Why?"

"The bodies of two boys were found in the dump this afternoon. Got it off my police scanner." Cain didn't make as much as he did by getting things second hand or the day after. "From the details I heard they were murdered by a killer that has a taste for youth. I wouldn't want my beloved daughter getting found by them."

She frowned as well. "Taste for youth?"

"They were two students from the local university. I'm pretty sure he's killed others that aren't found yet, though, and it wasn't too far from here. You'll probably blend in with the other kids and its not like he'd target you in the one block you have to walk from school to the bus stop, otherwise I wouldn't be letting you go at all. But promise me."

"I promise." though her promises were meaning less and less of late.

"Good. Had enough to eat?"

"Yes."

"Then head to bed. Good night."

"Night."

Upstairs in her room, surrounded by her painted walls, she tore off the shawl and let her wings spread wide. Papers fluttered, the blankets on her bed shifted a bit, but other than that she didn't have much in her bedroom to be disturbed by her wings. She kept it that way. So that when she started to flap, eyes closed to feel each muscle, the wind didn't cause chaos. She gave in to the daydreams as she exercised, remembering the feel of the sun and the smell of unfiltered air. Also, she had hoped by letting her wings out she could beat out the nervousness that cramped her stomach. She knew she should go downstairs and tell Cain what happened and receive the consequences. It tempted her at every moment. But that meant she'd never see the twins or Joey again, that she wouldn't finish her painting, that she wouldn't get to be in the sun or go to school. The thought would instantly re-harden her resolve. For sun. For paintings. For people.

Only when she was dripping in sweat did she stop and go to take a shower. Again the black dye ran down her back and into the drain. When she got out her hair was once more white-silver. Usually when she saw herself in the mirror without all the black or shawl she'd avert her eyes quickly. Now, however, she stopped and looked closely, though not entirely sure why. But, for a minute, it didn't bother her that she didn't look like Cain. She touched her lips, her cheeks, the edge of her eyelashes, her ears….

What did the others see when they saw her? Not this. But what would they think? Was being this white and silver really that bad? Why had Cain demanded she cover it up with black? Why couldn't she wear a different color? Originally she had thought she'd like it, because it meant she could look more like she was meant to with the daemon genes, but even if her whiteness was a fluke, could it be okay to just be her?

She shook herself and frowned. All this quiet rebellion of hers was getting to her head. Cain knew more about the world than she did and she should stop being so stupid. She was already being stupid as it is.

As she dressed into a nightgown and tied it up the holes that let her wings through, she looked out of the window she had painted for herself. A silver moon sat amongst a fat pillow of stars. She had only seen the night sky a few times when Cain had taken her to the park as a child. This wasn't right to lie to him. Besides, he'd find out eventually.

At that thought she put her hands over her eyes and shuddered. She just had to be patient. One day she'd learn to fly and could live her life however she wanted. One day she could make friends with real people, not people online who had no real clue as to who she was.

She curled underneath her blankets and turned off the light, resolving to do her best to keep her promise tomorrow. Perhaps if she did well from here on out she wouldn't have to lie to Cain anymore.

But the thought made her throat tighten and tears bud out from underneath her eyelids.

! #$%^&*(^%$#

_"OW! Freak, do you have to pull so tight?"_

_ "Stop complaining, Max. You're the one who got cocky around a daemon."_

_ "It doesn't hurt when mother changed the bandages."_

_ "Are you really comparing me to mother?"_

_ "That'd be too nice-OW! Damn, what is your problem?"_

_ "What's all the yelling for?"_

_ "Jake's trying to kill me, Orphus."_

_ "Like a little pain is going to kill you."_

_ "It's your fault you got hurt, Max."_

_ "No pity at all. Love you too."_

_ "Any info on where the daemon went, Orphus?"_

_ "I think he took cover in a basement somewhere north of the university. It would keep him out of the sun. Also, some bodies were discovered by some kids in a dump nearby."_

_ "Nasty little shock, I bet."_

_ "Not as nasty as the shock to the dead one's when their visitor got hungry."_

_ "Why didn't he eat the entire thing?"_

_ "Beats me."_

_ "If you ask me there's something screwy with that one's head."_

_ "You're only saying that because he took a bite out of you and said 'yum'."_

_ "Well, I hate to break it to you, but we're edible too."_

_ "I'd hate to think what would happen if she's down there…"_

_ "We have no proof that our sister is down there, Max."_

_ "Or if she's down anywhere."_

_ "Don't start, Jake."_

_ "Sometimes I feel discriminated because I talk differently than you too. I like to call it realism. Shiney, new, doesn't drop you down the cliff of disappointment when you're wrong-"_

_ "OUCH! Idiot! Pay attention to what you're doing!"_

_ "Oh, hello, blood."_

_ Sigh. "I'll probably die the day I wake up and you two act your age. I'm going to take another peek at the city for clues. Maybe I'll get lucky and people might actually realize they're not apex predators anymore."_

_ "Ow ow ow OW! That's it! I'm doing it myself."_

_ "I'd like to see you try! Go! Midair Twister!"_

_ "And you guys aren't even listening to me."_

_ "Stupid bandages, why won't you freaking clip."_

_ "Because they don't like you, Max."_

_ "Shut up!"_

_! #$%^&*%$# $%^&_

"Where's Angie?"

Joey shrugged. "Have you tried the courtyard?"

"Yeah, she's not there. But Yami said he saw her in English this morning, so she's not sick."

"Why do you look so worried? Maybe she just had something to do."

At least Joey had the grace to not give Yugi his trademark-needs-a-punch-in-the-face smirk at his friend's over-awareness of a girl he wasn't suppose to be liking. And he didn't. He was just worried about her, that's all. She was really self-conscious and didn't have any other friends yet besides them, though whether she considered them her friend or not was a different story.

Over at Yami's table, his brother was listening to Tea as she hung on his arm and chattered with overly-bright eyes. As he ate his pbj sandwich and, trying to avoid at all costs the topic of the bodies that had kept them up last night, he forced himself to think about what he was seeing. It was mundane. It didn't have maggots wriggling past any lips.

He swallowed. "Why doesn't Yami like Tea, do you think?"

Joey rolled his eyes, knees up and leaning against the glass with a poptart in hand. "Do you really have to ask?"

"She's hot, though, and she seems nice enough to him."

"Well, I'd never like her, so it's pretty obvious to me, but otherwise you're the one most qualified to answer that question."

Yugi frowned and tapped his shoes together. "I dunno. Last time Yami had a crush it was on a girl in middle school who ended up moving. He's kind of a hypocrite for nagging me about crushing on girls when he's pretty picky himself. But anyways, I don't think I'd want him to date her anyways. What do you think? Joey?"

But Joey was staring out in front of them, poptart drooping from his mouth and eyes glassy. Yugi followed his eyes and his mouth dropped.

The girl who walked towards them looked as though she had just walked off of a movie set, and a racey one at that. She had lean legs that curved just right into her tight butt and hips. Her breasts and the amount her low-cut tee show made Yugi squirm in uncomfortable ways and try valiantly to look down at the floor just to catch sight of her high heeled leather boots. Her short skirt showed just enough halter above her stockings to make it useless in making itself anything other than lingerie.

Her wide, perfectly made up face smiled down at them. It was then Yugi realized she held a tray with food on it. A student? No way.

"Hi," she said, "all the tables are a bit too crowded for my sake. Can I sit with you?"

Joey made a vague garbling noise that could have passed for 'yes.' Whatever it was, she took it as one and sat down next to him, long stocking legs tucked beneath her and skirt leaving little to the imagination.

Yugi wasn't sure he liked this girl. She made it hard to think or look at her face and that sort of power made him feel more vulnerable and pathetic than he already thought himself as.

"I just moved here from another part of town. Mom found a better deal on a house. What do you guys do for fun around here?"

What do you do for fun around here? Inwardly, Yugi scoffed at this. It was the most cliche opening line for any guy to grab on like a fish on a hook. He looked back over at his brother, who was staring at the girl along with everyone else in the cafeteria, it seemed. The power this girl held wasn't natural.

"Um, uh, all sorts of stuff." said Joey lamely.

"Oh? Give me an example." she seemed to blink extra slowly, giving time for Yugi to see how long her lashes were.

Joey bumbled to answer her questions and made a sad attempt to help with the conversation, but just ended up sounding like a gurgling baby. Yugi tried as well to rescue his friend and only helped minimally. It was really hard to think when you could see she was wearing a leopard print bra with rhinestones underneath that tight lavender t-shirt. Eventually he gave up and left Joey to her wiles and finished his lunch.

When the bell rang and she finally excused herself and walked away, long curly blond hair waving across her swaying hips as she walked. Yugi stuff his sandwich container into his bag and got up, but Joey stayed down, untouched food in his lap. Yugi rolled his eyes and kicked his shoe.

"Wake up, Joey. It's time for class. Oh, and you're drooling."

Joey didn't respond. He didn't even blink, eyes left on where she had vanished through the cafeteria doors. Yugi kicked his shoe again and was about to leave without him when he finally spoke.

"That's her, Yug. The girl I'm going to marry."

Yugi grinned, amused. "A bit of a skip, hop, and poll vault, don't you think? You don't even know her name."

Joey's face snapped to Yugi's, horrified. "Damn, you're right!" And he leapt to his feet.

"Wait! Joey! You forgot your…" too late. He was already out of earshot and down the hall. Yugi ran his hand through his wild hair and bent to pick up the backpack Joey had left behind. No sooner had he walked into the hall when guys he barely knew converged on him.

"What did you do?"

"Yugi, who is she?"

"Dude, you've got to tell me how you got her to come sit by you."

"Did you get her number? Where she lives? Anything!"

"Woa!" Yugi cried, "I don't know anything! She just came over, that's all!"

They bantered him, determined to get out any bit of information he had as Yugi vainly tried to make it to his art class. By the time he was finally able to shake them off before they could get angry at him and reconsider the bullying days before Joey, he had begun to believe that the whole male population of that school had officially gone insane.

Yami met him in the corner, paints and portrait already up. Yugi grabbed his painting and joined him, resisting the urge to scribble over the painting in annoyance once he sat down.

"Who was that girl?" asked Yami.

"I don't freaking know already!"

"Woa, chill. No need to bite my head off."

"And Joey's decided he's going to marry her." said Yugi.

"Good for him?"

"He's going to have to compete with every male in school. Probably a result of seeing dead people in a bag."

Yami looked offended. "I've never heard of guys going horny because they saw bodies, and I would hope you think I have a little more taste than that. Sure she has a great body, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Don't pretend, Yami, you were staring at her like everyone else."

"Jeeze, what's up with you?"

Yugi said nothing, for Angie had just walked in for the first time that day, except this time she had lost the raccoon look and only wore enough eyeliner and mascara to be noticeable. It brought out the green of her eyes more than ever, even from across the room. Somehow, just seeing her cooled him off and he mentally shook himself.

"Sorry. I just got harassed by a mob because of her. And it just annoys me when I meet such shallow guys."

"And yet here you are, gawking at a girl just the same."

"That's different Yami."

"Ah! So you admit it! You are looking!"

"What? What did I-no!"

"No taking it back now!" Yami cackled as he got up and made his way to meet Angie, who's mouth thinned as he approached her. She brought her hands in front of her and started pulling her fingers nervously. For a brief, terrifying moment Yugi thought Yami was about to tell her he liked her and start teasing her, but then he realized this was his over-protective brother who _wanted_ him to get a girlfriend. Exasperated with the day and people in general, he turned back to his dragon, which despite his attempts, looked even more demented than when he started.

When Yami returned to his seat with a confused frown and Angie returned to her corner, Yugi grew concerned.

"I asked if she wanted to sit with us and she said she couldn't. Is there a rule in class I'm missing?" asked Yami. "I mean, it'd be different if she said she didn't want to or nevermind, but she said it twice-she couldn't."

"That's a little weird." said Yugi, trying to ignore the disappointment in his chest, "maybe its just her roundabout way of giving us the silent treatment."

"But what did we do? She said we didn't do anything."

"Girls always say that."

"And when did you become the expert?" asked Yami.

Yugi said nothing, pretending to be completely involved with finding the right color for his sad dragon. Yami sighed and looked back at the dark girl, who had eyes for only her painting and already had specks of paint on her cheeks. A small smile tipped the edge of his brother's mouth.

"The way she's getting paint on her face. Adorable."

Yugi's head spun so fast he thought he heard his neck pop. "Adorable? Did you really just say that with a straight face?" then it hit him. "Wait, are you…?"

His twin blinked and looked away, trying to hide the way his hands fidgeted, but he forgot who he was trying to hide from. "I was pointing it out for your sake, idiot. If you'd just appreciate girls in the normal fashion like every other guy I wouldn't have to do it for you."

But his hands continued to work clumsily as Yugi watched. The delicate curls of details to the bark on the tree got fatter and fatter towards the bottom as he painted. A weird squirming feeling took over his gut.

But Yami didn't lie to him. He was probably being an idiot. No, he was. Besides, what did it matter if Yami did find Angie adorable?

He reluctantly continue his ugly painting, preoccupied with his disappointment that the first time he saw her today she had confined herself into the corner, and he was too concerned that she didn't want him around to go and talk to her himself.


	4. Temptress and a Questionable Diet

**Finally! I got my new laptop! My daddy is so awesome. ^.^ Now I can edit my book, though that means less time on this story. *shrug* oh well. I'll still do everything I can to update at least once a week. **

**Please, let me know what you think. It helps me to get better. :) And if this story isn't your style, try some of my other one's. They are faster paced and of different genres than this one. Oh, and as always, please excuse the little typos and whatnot here and there. Husband still horrified of the blood sucking godfather. He's way too trusting.**

**And enjoy those freaking snacks, dang it!**

**Pika, ya'all**

Chapter 4: Temptress and a Questionable Diet

(and some stalkers beating up Batman)

It was hard holding her tongue and keeping her distance. Angie thought that if she allowed herself within hearing distance of the twins and Joey she could pretend she was with them, but she found it only made it harder to keep her promise. The more she learned about them, the more she liked them-the more she could see them as friends. She could still pretend.

After a week she was sick of pretending. Pretending to fly in her room surrounded by paintings instead of the outside, pretending she had friends, pretending she wasn't _her._ She found herself growing so angry that when she went to her room to exercise she flapped so hard that the wind blew her mattress up into the wall and sent the screwed on light fixture flying.

Cain came up when he heard the glass shatter and found her breathing hard, sweaty, and standing over the fixture as though seeing it broken satisfied her to no end. She didn't care if he saw her ugly grey wings out.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're angry. I don't see this very often."

"I'm sorry for breaking it." she gestured at the broken globe on the floor.

"Don't say sorry to me. You're going to be picking it up and lighting your room with a bare bulb. What are you so angry at?"

"School." she said, unable to come up with a better lie on the spot.

"Your beloved school? Really?"

"One of the teachers said something not right," she blustered, "I didn't agree with them."

"Ah," he nodded, as though a large daemon who made his living off of writing about human news and suck blood knew all about annoying high school teachers. "Well, clean that up before you do anything else. I wouldn't want you to get cut. Your blood pressure is low enough."

"Yes, Cain."

She cleaned it up and went to shower off all the sweat that had soaked through her back. Only then did her anger finally melt away to exhaustion. Why was the world so unsafe for the different? Why couldn't she be free to go out and live like everyone else.

When she went downstairs to wish Cain a good night, he warned her once more about the killer.

"Four more bodies of youth were found in this area," he said, frowning, "and when they went to the boy's apartment they found it emptied out and his upstairs neighbors dead as well. If he is not caught soon, I am going to have to ask you to stop going to school."

This, if nothing else, got her attention. "No!"

He scowled. "Do not say 'no' to me. It is so."

"But-isn't there any clues? I mean, what's the likelyhood he'd go after someone like me?"

"Very high," he said.

"How do you know that?"

"I just do, don't question me, Angelynn. They've asked the other students at your school to do the same that I'm asking you. If he isn't found, school will be canceled anyways."

#$%^&*&^%$#

Joey was possessed, Yugi and Yami decided. Jim, in attempts to cover up the fight between him and their mom as well as to get her to come back, went ahead and bought them the materials for the carport and they finished it over the weekend (not without several smashed and cut fingers and everyone's part). After school on Monday and Tuesday they deep cleaned the garage, helped mom move out the boxes, and got an old scrap of carpet from a neighbor for the grease stain. Today they moved in Joey's drums. Once they brought in the music stands, Yugi's keyboard, and Yami's guitar, they were officially in business.

But while Yami and Yugi cheered, Joey just gazed at the wall stupidly.

"Did you guys know she's asked me out?"

"Already?" asked Yami, exchanging a skeptical look with Yugi.

"Yeah. Can you imagine it? Me, with Mai, the most beautiful girl alive."

Usually this would make the twins snicker, but they had heard it so much over the past week that they just groaned.

"Joey, I don't think she likes you," said Yugi, "I mean-"

"Of course she likes me! She freaking digs me!" snapped Joey, breaking his revere to glare at Yugi. Yami gave him a look that said, 'you should have known better to not say that, whether it's true or not.' Yugi ignored him.

"But she's moving way too fast, and frankly she doesn't seem the kind of girl who'd, well, go for a guy like you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Joey.

"She's hot, you're not." said Yami bluntly.

"Now that's just insulting."

"We're your friends, Joe, it's our job." said Yugi.

"You're just jealous."

Yami snorted and didn't even bother to respond to that. He turned to his music and went to picking at his guitar, going over the chords.

Yugi bit his lip, then said, "Joey, I think she might be using you. I mean, where did she ask you out to?"

"Copperback."

"Copperback?" Yami stopped momentarily to stare at his friend. "Joey, do you know the rep that place has?"

"'Course! It's only the hottest dance club in this area of town!"

"Not that. It's a rave den, for druggies, or whatever stupid fad word they call it. If you go there you'll just get in trouble."

"Not to mention it's in the worst part of town." said Yugi timidly.

"Don't care. It's where Mai wants to go, so I'll go." Joey smiled to himself and started a beat on his drums rather dreamily. "I wonder if she'll want to get dirty."

Both the twins made an act of kicking Joey's drums, looking nauseous, and calling him a pervert. Joey, in turn, called them girls and pointed out that should they become famous they'll all have women hanging off of them anyways. The twins didn't respond to that. Privately, they were thinking how they had no interest in 'getting dirty' with just anyone that came along. Watching their mother's marriages fail over and over made one a bit paranoid about their own future relationships, and 'getting dirty' just complicated said relationships.

"Can we just stop talking about how Joey's being played and start some music?" said Yami, and before Joey could protest Yugi flicked on the metronome and slammed his fingers into the keys.

"Turn that damn beat-clicker off, I'm the drummer!"

"Then be the freaking drummer!"

And they launched into one of their songs. At first it was a mess of ametuer noises crashing together like a bad old washer machine as they read the music Yugi had given them and tried to figure out how it all went together. By the time they had reached the end of the song, though, all three were yelling the lyrics, laughing, and finally on the same beat.

But as Yugi thought of Joey's love possession, he couldn't help thinking about the green-eyed girl who never came close enough to talk, but which he had noticed still hovered in-sight. What had they done? Perhaps he would finally find the guts tomorrow to go up and talk to her, because even if he found out she really did hate them, at least then he would know.

! #$%^&%$# $

_"You'd think since that daemon couldn't fly we would have found him by now."_

_ "He's on a killing spree."_

_ "I can see that."_

_ "We're not doing very good at our job. What would father say?"_

_ "Nothing. He would've taken care of it by now."_

_ "Maybe we can use this vogue daemon…"_

_ "Orphus, there's nothing useful about a daemon."_

_ "But don't you see? If she's in this area, that daemon is going to be naturally drawn to her smell. She's like a gourmet five star meal walking around."_

_ "That's sounds more like a problem then a plan."_

_ "That's why we need to find him first and keep track of him. Maybe he can lead us to her."_

_ "That's a horrible idea, Orphus. How many humans will he have killed before he finds her?"_

_ "Frankly, I'm surprised he hasn't found her yet."_

_ "Only a matter of time."  
"It's official, then. Our baby sister is going to become breakfast for a daemon."_

_ "Not while I'm alive!"_

_ "Then go, Max, fly. You to, Jake."_

_ "But there's no clouds! Someone will see us!"_

_ "Then someone sees us."_

# $%^&*^%$#$%^&

The sun. She leaned back, tilted her chin up till her head was rest on her shoulders, and soaked it in. Yugi and Joey had moved to the doorway of the courtyard, for some reason, and she only pretended to not notice every time Yugi caught a glance of her. He probably was still wondering why she had gone from friendly to anti-social. She didn't care. She was happy they had moved outside. Now she could soak in sun and listen to them at the same time.

If only she could wear lighter clothes. This black was horribly hot and sucked up the sun like the ugly shadow of a color it was.

"Joe, just don't. Don't go."

"You're just jealous."

"I'm suppose to be pseudo-gay, remember?"

"But you're not, so you're jealous."

"She's using you, Joey. You don't even talk when you're around her, so don't give me that 'it's my personality' crap."

"Fine. It's my masculine aura."

"Augh!"

She chuckled. This was one of the few times she got to listen to Joey talking to Yugi about this girl, Mai, who she had seen a few times. She was quite pretty. When she walked past her once, though, she had smelt so strange. She couldn't quite place the scent.

"It's against the rules if you go, you know."

"What!? Since when has there been a rule against dating hot girls?'

"It has nothing to do with girls, you idiot. It has to do with that serial killer that's going around killing kids. They want everyone to go home right after school, no buts."

Joey blew it off. "Aw, come on. What's the likelyhood that mister happy knives is going to find me? Besides, I'll be with Mai walking there and a bunch of others at the club."

Out of the corner of her eye she watched Yugi's sweet, handsome face grow darker with his increasing, thin lipped frown. His eyebrows went low over his eyes till he almost looked just like his sharper twin.

"I would think, Joey, that after seeing some of his victims yourself this would be more real to you."

That made Joey pale and falter. He didn't answer for some time, and his sad attempts to eat his lunch failed. Angie agreed with Yugi full heartedly and imagine herself telling him so, expressing the concerns of her the in the end she found herself just growing angry again. She really should stop indulging herself in these fantasies. They weren't healthy.

The bell rang and she tucked her empty tupperware into her book bag and made her way down the hall, careful to keep far enough from Yugi and Joey to make it look like a fluke, still listening. Joey made a few more weak tries at convincing Yugi it'd only be a dream come true to go with Mai after school to this Copperback place (whatever that was), but Yugi said nothing. She found her stomach clenching nervously for Joey's sake. What if he didn't take Yugi's word? What if he did leave after school?

Then that wasn't her business. If Joey wanted to go on a date, he was probably right. The likelyhood of the killer find him was miniscule.

She had been so deep in her thoughts and Joey's and Yugi's conversation that she walked into someone. The jolt sent her stumbling back, nearly tripping on the end of her invisibility shawl, and she panicked. But at the last moment the girl she had crashed into grabbed her.

"Woa, there,"

Angie straightened out and came eye to eye with no other than Joey's blond beauty: Mai.

Mai smiled at her, and in that moment something hit her so quickly and solidly, she nearly had her breath knocked from her. She had never been so close to Mai before, and she was no professional when it came to mortals, but…

"Are you really 16?" she blurted before she could think about it.

And that scent. That familiar, sickly scent wafting about her. She had to force down the need to cough.

Mai took a deep breath herself and her smile turned into something wicked, her eyes closed.

"And are you really human?"she said, and Angie had never heard anyone make a sound more like a purr than she.

Her surroundings blurred as her fear took over. The kids brushing past them faded. The sounds of their footsteps and chatter vanished in the thudding of her heart.

She felt sick.

"Tell you what, little birdie," said Mai, "you believe what you want and play nice and I won't take off that nice shawl of yours when you aren't looking. Sound all right?"

When had this gone from bumping into someone to being threatened. Angie rushed for words to explain herself.

"Why would I do anything mean to you?" Angie asked. "I mean, if you're not 16, big whoop, but what are you doing in a high school?"

"Just enjoying the experience. Now run along before I get thirsty."

Thirsty? Feeling beyond confused, she stumbled her way into the art classroom, head spinning with that strange sickly aroma around Mai. There was something really off here. Why would she stop her? And why had she called her a 'birdie'? Sure she looked like an ugly pigeon, but Mai had never seen her wings. How had she known?

What was Mai?

She pulled out the abstract there were finishing this week, but didn't pay attention to what her hands were doing. She almost didn't hear the twins in the corner next to her talking more about their friend Joey.

"What do we do?" asked Yugi.

"Nothing much we can do but let him get hurt and learn for himself. I'm about ninety-five percent sure Mai doesn't have a speck of affection for him." said Yami.

"But not that, what about that murderer who has been killing off kids? He's suppose to be close by!"

"What's the chance, really?"

"There's always a chance! We did find those bodies, didn't we?"

"You're being paranoid, Yugi. Just sit back and be ready to laugh and hand the boy tissues when he comes back all butthurt."

And then it hit her where she recognized Mai's smell.

Cain's steaks.

Her marker hovered over her canvas. Why would someone who knew about her real form smell like Cain's hog steaks? Did she eat them too? Big whoop if she did. And yet the smell still burned her nose. Why hadn't any of the others students noticed her smell? Joey only praised her in every whit.

Forgetting her promised silence, she dropped her marker and went to the twins. They looked just as surprised as she felt to see her standing her, but her heart was still pounding.

"What does Mai smell like to you?" she blurted out.

Yami and Yugi stared at her.

"What does she-excuse me?" said Yami.

Angie felt her face heating up. "I mean, does she smell nice or bad to you?"

"She uses perfume, I guess. Smells all right." said Yugi.

Yami snorted. "Joey says she smells like jasmine and fresh rain, the dog."

Angie felt the chill all over her again. Why would Mai smell so awful to her and good to everyone one else.

_The killers in this area and has been killing off youth._

_ Mai isn't 16 years old._

_ She knows who I am._

"Angie, are you okay?" asked Yugi, slipping off his stool. "You look like you're going to pass out again.

"Somethings wrong. Mai-Joey-"

Yugi didn't ask how she knew that, though Yami looked like he was about to try.

"Have you seen something, Angie?"

She moved to explain, to explain everything, in hopes that maybe the mortals might be able to tell her what this awful sensation of foreboding in her chest was all about, but a tingle along her neck and the quieting of the classroom told her they were being watched. She looked over her shoulder to confirm it and backed away.

"Mai isn't what she seems." she whispered. "Don't let Joey go."

"But how do you know this?" said Yami.

"How is she not what she seems?" asked Yugi.

But she just shook her head and went back to her seat and attempted to continue her painting, but her mind was racing: why would she smell like Cain's meat? Why was she here? Why did she feel the need to threaten her? Why was she playing with Joey, if she was playing at all? Yugi and Yami were right, it didn't seem likely that the dark-eyed, meat smelling woman she had crashed into in the hall had already fallen for someone like Joey.

The bell rang, and she slipped out before Yugi and Yami could detain her for more questions. She tried to reason her anxiety aside, but instead went looking for Joey.

!# $%^%&^*&&^%$#

"Joey, when did you say you were heading to the club with Mai tonight?"

Joey gave Yugi a dead-panned look and continued walking to the main gates, where Yami waited in his grey honda civic almost as old as him. Now and then it would squeak as though protesting at being made to work this long.

"No, Yug. I know what you're doing."

"Being curious?"

"Being a stalker."

Yugi made to look offended, though his friend couldn't be more right. "You wish. Yami and I just wanted to get a practice in sometime this afternoon."

"Right." said Joey. He tugged open one of the few working doors and slid in to the other side as Yugi got into the front seat. Though the car had holes in the seat and the fabric was dropping off of the ceiling, it was meticulously clean. Yami was weird like that.

"So, you coming to practice?" asked Yami.

"You're in on it?" Joey scowled. "I'm not telling you when my date is."

"Jeeze, why are you so defensive?"

"That Angie girl asked me earlier for you, and I know you must have told her something awful to get her to break her silent treatment. I saw her face."

Yami and Yugi exchanged glances. Then, Yami winked at his twin where Joey couldn't see and made a sign of sighing.

"Fine, we'll just have to use the metronome to fill in for you." he said.

"What!? Hell no, I'm not some damn beat-clicker! You can't practice a single note without me, I'll be there! You can practice whenever I show up."

Yugi did his best not to smirk. Bulls-eye. Count on his brother to make such a clever, strategic move. Now if Joey didn't tell them what time his date was, he'd still have to leave practice in time to get ready and go, giving the two at least an idea of when they can hope to follow.

He'd hate them, but it was for his own good.

! #W$%^&%$#

Almost the instant she came home she went into the shower to wash off the layers of itchy makeup and hair dye that refused to stick, for some reason. She let her mind wander as usual as the hot water poured down her back. It felt safe here. Here, she didn't have to lie, pretend, or worry about meat smelling girls or how Yugi and Yami had driven away before she could have told them what time Joey was leaving. Now there was no one to follow him and keep him safe. But the white noise of water pattering against her skin blurred out her anxiety. It was just her here. Her, and water.

She filled her walk-in shower with wings.

When she finally came downstairs, wiping at her face with makeup remover, Cain was waiting for her with his illusionary coat draped over his arm. He nodded to her on meeting her eyes.

"I have to go out. You know the rules."

"Where are you going?"

"To search out some news. I'll be back by dawn, as usual."

She nodded. Though Cain usually ordered their food via mail order, occasionally he would take special trips out. Sadly, there wasn't much difference in the rules and her life with Cain here or gone, besides one less steak to cook. He slipped his coat on, had her check to make sure no sign of hidden wings showed, then left after giving her a brief pat on the head.

She wanted to soak in the warmth of his hand, but then he was gone, and where it had been was colder than before. She dabbed off the last of her make up, threw away the cotton balls, and went to the kitchen to dig around in the kitchen. Her meals usually took at least an hour to make, so she liked starting early. As she flipped through what vegetables they had, she pulled out a rutabaga considered it. She could make a small stew out of this that took about two hours. She looked at the clock. It was almost four now, so that meant it'd be done at six.

Joey's date with Mai was at six. There was no one….but she shook that thought out of her mind furiously. Joey could take care of himself. There was nothing but her suspicions to say Mai was dangerous. But Yugi and Yami said themselves there was no way she could even like him after such a short time, but they could've just been teasing. Boys did that, didn't they? Though they hadn't sounded like that.

Her mind became so muddled she left the rutabega on the counter and searched for more vegetables. She set the vegetables along the counter and looked back at the clock. After four. If she made this, she wouldn't be able to-but she didn't have any choice. Cain would know if she left the apartment, wouldn't he? Besides, he only made those rules with her best interest at heart. He wanted her to be safe. She should be wise.

She took a knife and set it on the rutabaga, but didn't cut. Her hand was trembling. What if she went to school tomorrow and Joey wasn't there? No one else knew. Joey said he was tired of stalkers and wouldn't tell anyone. She was the only one. What would she do then, with that knowledge?

These were for her safety.

But Joey's safety was in jeopardy too. And though she hadn't talked to him for over a week, she had listened to him, and to her he was her friend, pretend or not.

She put away the knife and the vegetables, heart skipping nervously in her chest. She grabbed a granola bar and went upstairs to rev up her computer. In Mapquest she punched in Copperback, Domino, as well as her address and waited for the directions with sweating fingers. When they did, she looked at the distance, printed out a map, and went around her room for a head wrap. When Cain use to take her to the park at nights he would have her wrap up her hair so none of it's whiteness showed. With quick hands she tied it up again as well as her wings in her own illusionary shawl. Then, pocketing a few dollars for the bus, she looked at the clock again. It was almost five. It should take Joey about an hour to get there. She should get there then too.

Downstairs, she paused for a terrifying second with her hand on the doorknob. Was she sure she wanted to do this? Hadn't she broken enough promises by not telling Cain about her fainting incident? But Yugi was right, no one noticed her now, so it wasn't necessarily lying. But while she could justify that, what she was about to do she knew she wouldn't be able to justify. What if Joey wasn't in trouble? What if she went just to watch a perfect human girl and guy make goo goo eyes at each other?

Steeling herself, she twisted the doorknob and, for the first time, left the apartment without Cain's permission.

#$%^&*^%$#%^&

When the sun goes down, Marik comes out to play.

Skipping in excitement, he closed the basement apartment behind him. It was the same apartment he had commandeered on first injuring his wing, and since then he had replaced their distasteful naked human poster with artwork of his own: an abstract square filled with tastefully placed human bones of his previous meals. Along with the now sparkling clean apartment and a window successfully tinfoiled up, he almost felt like he could make this place a permanent home-especially since he had already eaten the landlord, who had come to clean out the place after his tenants bodies were found in the dump.

Of course, the police had come, but he saw it coming and had found another place to relax in while they did their...whatever they did. He heard mortal crime fighters hunted down murderers using DNA, but it made him laugh to think of anyone trying to track him down using a DNA match. It wasn't like he was human himself. That is how it worked, right? They took one human's DNA and saw whether or not it matched with that which was found? Oh, whatever.

The night, though sickly scented with the fumes of cars and human refuse, welcomed him with cool touches. The first breath of darkness always filled him with the sense that the night was a woman, and she was hot. Dark skin, bright eyes, and straight and thin as a whistle.

He made his way down the street, making sure to take the allies as to hide his wings. Show them something just a bit out of the ordinary and humans completely lost it, which was fine by him, unless he was hungry. Hard to catch a meal in a stampede. Along the way he kept his nose peeled for something delicious. He caught the rancid smell of a few homeless and avoided them. Tonight he wanted to treat himself with something other than fast food. Something...fresh and healthy. Something young, untouched by those stupid poisons humans used for recreation, and virgin. The thought made his mouth water.

He planned on being out all night, making it a sort of game to hunt out just the right treat, but an aromic, intoxicating scent came to him after only an hour and he knew in an instant he was done searching.

Screw humans. He smelled birdie.

This one smelt different than the three brothers: fresher, younger. This peaked his interest. Could it be there were more than three birds in this city? Life was really looking up for him: nice apartment, stupid humans, and now rare hidden birdie delectables.

Wiping saliva off his chin, he grinned till his fangs slipped past his lips and followed his nose.

! #$YUI*&^%$#%

Angie didn't feel afraid. Cain had always taught her that night time was their natural habitat and their cover. Though here in the city the stars were swallowed up in light pollution and the moon glowed yellow with haze. She found, staring up as she walked from the bus stop, that she preferred the clear warm light of the sun. While the moon bathed everything in a clean silver, the sun brought out the colors of the world with near neon brilliancy.

Thus, she wasn't aware of the slouched figure in an alley she passed, dripping spittle onto the sidewalk at the smell of her. Due to the fact Copperback had been built out of the way and tucked into a slow traffic part of the city, like a hidden treasure, only a few people were out this evening, and vanishing quickly into the club five blocks away.

She looked around, trying to pick out Joey's thick blond hair and lanky swagger. Hopefully it wouldn't cost too much to go into the club and watch for him from a distance, that is, if Mai hadn't made her move already.

"Does my nose deceive me?"

A shock spiked through her muscles and she whirled around. Right behind her was a frightening man, with cinnamon skin lined with purple veins and bright, white eyes. His platinum blond hair shrouded his head and shoulders like a lion's mane.

But it was the leathery wings on his back that caught her attention.

"You're a daemon?"

"Good job, you know your shapes, little birdie."

The smell hit her next: Cain's steak. It was far more vile and rancid than Mai's scent, however, and she couldn't stop herself from smacking her hands over her nose.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, "And why aren't you hiding your wings?"

"Such strange questions from dinner," he scratched his chin with a long, but meticulous clean nail. On a second look she realized it was a claw. She had only seen Cain's claws once or twice in her life, when she had been an especially bad girl. But his statement confused her.

"What do you mean dinner? Don't you know I'm a daemon too?"

The daemon started. Then he flung back his head and roared with laughter. She pouted, though her heart had begun to pound in a instinctual fear she couldn't understand.

"Look, I may not look like it-"

"Oh, shut up." he snarled, turning from amused to feral faster than lightning. "There's no way you can trick me. I can smell you from a mile away, little birdie, no matter how well you hide your feathers. And it's quite…" and suddenly he was right next to her, claws against her neck and through her hair, rancid meat breath in her face, "delectable."

She stumbled back, but his claws caught on her hair, jerking her as well as a scream out of her throat. One great big leathery wing filled the sky above her and familiar fangs sank into her arm.

Panicstricken, she kicked and screamed at him, yanking his fangs from her arm with a flare of pain. He growled and snached for her, but she wriggled away-

-to see none other than Yugi running for her from an old grey car, his brother unsticking himself from his steering wheel after probably slamming the brakes.

"Oy! Batman!"

The daemon turned from her and hissed at the short Yugi, wing still snarled around her. She used the momentary distraction to rake her nails across it. The daemon yelped and she found herself face first into the pavement.

"Keep coming, little one, you'll make a great appetizer." he hissed.

She unpeeled her face up. "Yugi-!" A boot stomped her face back down. She tasted blood.

"Angie!? Let her go!"

She heard the squeak of sneakers and a battle cry, along with a snarl from the daemon. The boot lifted from her head and she rolled away and to her feet. Little Yugi had his arms around the daemon's neck, a surprising feet considering the fact the daemon was at least a head and half taller than him. But the moment she thought that the daemon swiped at Yugi and brought him crashing to the ground. She rushed to him, but another, much angrier shout beat her to it.

From across the street came Yami, with what-was that a shotgun?

"Touch him and I'll blow your face off!"

The daemon froze, eyes on the shotgun, fangs bared and gleaming in the combine light of the moon and the neon signs of Copperback.

Shotgun end unwavering, Yami eased himself closer to Yugi. He looked as frightening as Angie always knew he could be.

"What kind of stupid freak runs around attacking girls with fake bat wings stuck to his back? Go home and take your meds, unless you like the taste of lead."

Angie felt her stomach fall. "Yami…" He thought they were fake?

But before she could say anything, a chilling smirk broke across the daemon's face.

"Fake? How quaint."

Slowly, the daemon spread his wings. Their tremendous size seemed to fill up the entire alleyway to reach the sky.

Yami's eyes widened and he let the shotgun go slack for the barest of moments, but it was enough. The daemon shot forward.

And so did she, wings instinctually snapping out with a tear of cloth. She yelled and tackled the daemon, using the momentum of her outspread wings to spin about him and push him into the grimy brick side of the nearby building. One of his great wings with purple welts running down it's length thwacked against her own and he screeched in pain. Blood leaked out, and fueled by terror, she fell on it, grabbing the wing and crunching it against the bricks. Screaming the daemon spun around, eyes ablaze with bloodlust.

She bit in. Rancid blood filled her mouth. She recoiled, as did the daemon, still screaming at her.

Her stomach turned. She didn't know something could taste so bad. She thought she was going to be sick.

For a moment the daemon looked as though about to flee, for he turned for the alley. But in a swift movement she barely saw he swiped up Yugi and vanished into the darkness.

Without thinking she followed, calling out his name. Behind her she heard Yami shouting his brother's name as well.

As she ran, it amazed her that she didn't trip on anything. In the dim light of the moon she made out a wall and turned, following a maze of alleys rank with the smell of urine and trash. Her heart pounded in her ears, her head whirled with confusion.

_Mai smelt like the daemon. The steak, what was it? The daemon was going to eat Yugi. The daemon was going to eat _her_._

_ Cain drank her blood, but she never drank his or ate his food._

_ They had called her 'birdie.'_

She skidded into a dark, silent street, panting. In the distance a dog barked.

Underneath the orange light of a wilting streetlamp stood the daemon, eyes aglow, and little Yugi squirming in his grasp.

"I will eat you," he snarled, "alive and _writhing._"

And he opened up his great jaws, fangs glistening orange with saliva, and sank his teeth into Yugi's shoulder.

The same time Yugi screamed she leapt forward, wings alight. Her feet left the ground, her hands reached for the daemon's broken wing-

The daemon dropped Yugi and she beat her wings wildly, hitting every part of the daemon she could reach. He retreated, claws protecting his face, scrambling to hide his injured wing from her assault. Adrenaline making her head pound, she kicked hard and the daemon lost his balance into a pile of trash.

She pivoted on the spot and ran to Yugi. Without another thought she grabbed him under the armpits.

"What are-?"

She beat her wings as she never had before, fueling every ounce of adrenaline, fear, and fury into each pound. For the second time in her life her feet left the ground and she fought her way to the stars.


	5. Angel Stripping in My Closet&Daddy Issue

**Meh, I'll edit tomorrow. I'm sleepy.**

Chapter 5: An Angel in My Closet and Daddy Issues

Yugi watched as the ground sunk beneath him with the sensation that he had left all his organs behind. The bat-winged and bat-shit crazy guy leapt after them and Yugi felt his nails nick the heel of his shoe before he fell back down with an awful, inhuman screech.

Angie was making small, sad noises of pain, but her face was red with effort as she frantically flapped those huge, silver grey feathers around them. Once above the buildings she fought her way back towards the lit street and the blinking neon lights of Copperback.

He shook himself from watching the blood stain his sleeve when he realized what she was doing. "You can do it, Angie! Yami's right over there! We can get away in his car!"

She clenched her teeth and dug into the air, letting the air fill her wings and allowing them to glide across the building tops, across the street, and down towards the grey honda. Yami, who had caught sight of them from an alleyway, ran frantically under them towards the car, head back and eyes wide. He crashed into it just as they did. Feathers engulfed them and Yugi rolled off the roof with a clang and onto the sidewalk with a rush of air. They groaned.

"That was-"

A blood-chilling shriek cut Yami off and sent them scrambling for the doors. Yami jumped into the driver seat and tugged Angie from the broken door she had been pulling on. Her wings seemed to fill the entire cabin.

A black, winged figure appeared in the alleyway and came at them with great, leaping strides.

The honda burst into life.

"Shut the door!" shouted Yami.

Angie dug through her wings. Yugi screamed. The bat guy jumped at them, fangs bared like some sort of animal.

She reached the door and slammed it just in time.

"Gogogogogogo!"

But Yami had already slammed on the gas, whirling the car around with a squeal of tires. The bat guy flopped off onto the street with awkward flops of wings and limbs.

"What about Joey?!" cried Yugi.

"He's a big boy!" growled Yami, yanking the steering wheel and missing a fire hydrant by a hair.

Angie gave a cry as she was thrown against the side that sent Yugi's hair on end. When he turned to check on her she had gone limp and her eyes had closed. Blood leaked down her arm and splattered across her clothes, and he couldn't tell if it was his or hers. His shoulder throbbed.

"There's no way we can go back and check, we're just going to have to hope it gets distracted and follows us." Yami was saying.

"Yami! She's hurt!"

"You are too, if you haven't noticed." he checked the rearview mirror. "It's gone. I'm going to the hospital."

"Are you insane, Yami? She has wings!"

"I'm aware of that!"

"But they might-they might-"

Yami swerved onto an onramp, tipping Angie over onto her wing and Yugi and smothering him in a bunch of feathers. He spat some out of his mouth.

"Take us home!"

"What?!"

"We have to take care of her!"

"But that thing could have rabies or who knows what!"

"Then take her home first, let me help you get her inside, and then I'll go."

"But mom and Jim-"

Yugi cursed loudly. He looked down at Angie's pale, quiet face, clean from make up and framed with white, almost gleaming hair. There was no other way to describe her now other than then looked back up at the feathers filling the cabin. This had to be a dream. But then his shoulder gave a twinge as Yami switched lanes and he hissed. Nope. This was reality.

Yami took the exit to the hospital. Before Yugi could protest, Yami spoke up.

"I want you to go in there and pay attention to what the doctors do. If they give you a shot of whatever, see if you can swipe some of it for her."

"Are you mad? You want me to steal from a hospital?"

"You were a kleptomaniac once."

"That was in first grade! They made me sit with cops, if you don't remember!"

"Oh, poor Yugi if he gets caught. Has to sit with cops while his girlfriend dies from a crazy's bite."

"This is serious, Yami!"

"Right back at you. Also they'll call mom and Jim to come pick you up, which will give me a chance to sneak Angie in."

Yugi grit his teeth. "Fine."

Yami sped down the street, barely missing a red light. Yugi said nothing. Despite his recklessness, his brother was an excellent driver.

He pulled in just outside of the lights of the emergency room. Yugi rolled down the window to the broken door and slipped out, careful to not use his injured shoulder, which smarted at him anyways. Yami rolled down his window and stuck his hand out.

"Good luck."

Yugi slapped the hand and Yami was off. He didn't bother to watch the car go, but jogged inside, just in case the bat-guy could fly like Angie. He held his arm to the side. Once flooded by the white sterilized lights of the emergency room, the adrenaline started to fade and his head grew light. The floor tipped and he stumbled forward, wondering where his strength had gone.

A nurse behind the counter jumped up.

"Gracious! What happened?"

"Got bit," said Yugi, trying to shake off the encroaching black. He had to stay conscious for Angie. It was just a bite.

But then, for the first time, he really looked at his shoulder and nearly fainted from the sight. He could see a bit of white poking out from a the mess of shredded flesh that he swore was a bone. The torn muscle reminded him of rib-eye.

The nurse caught him in time as he tipped, stomach churning. She called for a wheelchair.

"What's your name?'

"Yugi. Yugi Motou."

"Can you tell me your parents number so we can get a hold of them, Yugi?"

As he rattled off numbers, he tried to focus on them. He had to stay awake. He had to stay awake. Angie needed him.

! #$%&^*O*$%#

Yami wasn't sure what made him think that leaving Yugi at the hospital to possibly steal vaccines, or even if they'd work on someone who was clearly not human, was a good idea. However, parked in his car in the abandoned house's driveway across from home, he waited until he saw mom and Jim leave before he drove in and went to get Angie out. He winced at the blood that had stained everywhere. His car looked like trash enough. It was easier than he thought to sling her over his back, wings and all. Arms under her legs, he went inside, hoping the moonlight would make it look like she had a blanket over her back rather than wings for anyone who happened to see them.

Inside he pulled her into his room, which had a bigger closet compared to Yugi's. He tore down clothes, covered them with a quilt, and set her in the makeshift bed. Her eyelids fluttered as he did this. He smiled at her.

"Stay here, Angie. I'm just going to get some stuff for your arm, kay?"

He didn't wait for her to answer, but ran to the bathroom.

"Hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, anything-ah!" grabbing the rubbing alcohol and old, but still sealed bandages, he went to the kitchen, filled a bowl full of hot water, grabbed a rag, and hurried back to his room, leaving the door opened behind him in his hurry.

"Okay, Angie, you still there?"

"Yes." said a tiny voice.

He peered in to find her huddled into the darkest corner, wings limp and head bowed. Her long white hair poured down her shoulders to her hips like a veil of silver, and he found his mind wiped clean as he stared. Covered in dye and make up he had seen hints of it, for sure, but now…

She was beautiful.

He shook himself. He couldn't think things like this. He eased forward and crouched in the clothing-blanket bed, careful to not spill any water. His hands were shaking as he dipped the rag into the water and asked for her arm. She didn't move.

"Angie?"

She said nothing. Her wings twitched upward, but she hissed with pain.

"Angie, what hurts?"

"What are you doing?" she suddenly snapped. He flinched.

"Helping you?"

"Why? I'm a freak. I'm...I'm not like you-aren't you afraid?" she sounded both frightened and angry.

"You saved my brother," he said, "why would I be afraid of you? Besides…"

She hugged her uninjured arm around her legs tightly. "But-but…"

She suddenly reminded him of a cornered animal and he felt his heart twist with sympathy."Just show me your arm. I promise, I won't hurt you. I...I just want to help."

"I-I shouldn't be here."

"We can take you home after I bandage you. Are you, uh, allergic to alcohol?" that was the closest he could get to asking if having wings made you reacted to rubbing alcohol like the wicked witch of the west to water.

"No. I've used it before."

Slowly, she proffered her arm, caked with blood. He bit his lip at the sight and went to work tenderly wiping it off. At one point he felt her watching him and looked up to meet the greenest eyes he had ever seen, framed by silver eyelashes, even in the faint light of his cheap bedroom lamp. He felt himself grow warm and start to sweat. He quickly looked back at her arm before he did anything stupid. This was Yugi's girl, winged or not. He couldn't be thinking like this.

"So...I take it this is why you stopped talking to us."

"...yeah."

He nodded, as though this was a good enough reason for any girl to stop talking to someone. When her arm was clean he noticed a bit of blood on her chin from her arm and, without thinking, went to wipe it off. She flinched and he drew back with a quiet 'sorry,' and unscrewed the alcohol lid.

"Prepare yourself." he said as he soaked up cotton balls.

As he dabbed the bite mark, she made a small noise of pain that made him uncomfortable. He put her in the closet because he figured it would be the easiest to make a quick hide if someone were to barge in. Now he was starting to reconsider his choice. This was just way too...yeah.

"Are you almost done?"

"Yeah, just one second...there." he reached for the gauze. "So, um, what's your story?"

She looked to the side. "I'm not suppose to tell."

"But the secrets out, right? Might as well." he pressed the gauze on, letting his fingers graze the bottom of her arm. He didn't know skin could be so soft.

She shrugged, then groaned. "I can't believe this is happening. I'm so humiliated."

"Why?"

"Why wouldn't I?" she said, as though it were obvious. Then she hissed as she moved her wings again. "Man, my back hurts so bad!"

"Does it do that every time you fly?" he asked with more than his share of the surreal.

"That was the first time." then she blinked and in a flash her expression changed from ashamed to elated. "Oh my gosh, I FLEW!"

"Hey!" he said, as her arm slipped out of his grasp, gauze clinging for dear life, so she could press her knuckles to her jaw in a squeal.

"I flew, I FLEW!"

"Uh, yeah, you did."

"And I was actually in the air! I was above the buildings and I even carried Yugi with me! If I try without him-but that hurt."

Yami grimaced and took her arm back for bandages. "I imagine if you've never flown before, your back is going to hurt. Not like I know everything there is to winged people, having never met any." he held her soft wrist tight as he wrapped the bandages around the gauze to hold it in place. "I take it there's more of you?"

Her elation melted away and she once more hid her face beneath her hair. He waited, but she didn't answer. The buzz of the refrigerator in the kitchen and the water heater filled the silence. Cutting the gauze with his teeth, he tucked the end in and let go of her arm.

"There. Did he get you anywhere else?"

She shook her head, sending ripples of light down her hair like water. The strongest urge to touch it rose in his chest and he squeezed his hands between his knees to stop himself.

"You're...the only one?"

"Cain said I was like him. That I was a daemon, but Mai and that guy who attacked us, they called me a 'birdie,' and he even laughed at me when I said I was a daemon too. Told me to stop joking."

"Oh, well that wasn't-wait, Cain, are you saying he's like that bat guy?"

"Daemon, yeah."

"And isn't that your godfather?" his blood ran cold. Any fuzzy sensation of attraction flipped over to horror. "You _live_ with one of those maneaters?"

"He's not a maneater, he's a...a…" she sniffed, wrinkled her nose, and looked down at her shirt which was wet with blood. She grabbed it and stuffed it to her face, breathing in, then gagged. Before Yami could stop her she tore it off her head, popping the buttons that had been holding it around her wings. He yelped and dropped whatever he was holding to slap his eyes over his face.

There was an angel stripping in his closet.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"It smells! It smells like them! It smells like the steak!"

"What steak?"

"Cain's! Cain's!" he felt a breeze as the shirt flew over his head. "What's that red stuff on it? That can't be all the daemon's!"

"Well, Yugi's shoulder was pretty bad, and you did carry him with you, now will you please cover yourself?"

"With what?"

"Oh, I don't know, you're only sitting on a pile of clothes and a blanket!"

He fell out of the closet as she dug beneath the blanket. After a few minutes of stillness and silence, he dared to peek over his eyes to see Angie sitting sullenly with one of his button up shirts on backwards, tag sticking up underneath her chin. She looked ill.

"Um, Angie…"

"Please," she breathed, "please get that shirt out of here. It's making me…"

She slapped a hand to her mouth. Before he could stop her she leapt past him, out his room, and across the hall into the bathroom. Her wings slammed the door over the sound of her throwing up. He grimaced as he picked up the blood soaked shirt and, gingerly, sniffed it. All he smelt was blood. Not pleasant, but not enough to make you puke, especially since it was already partially dried.

By the time she slunk out of the bathroom, pale and sweaty, he had thrown the shirt away outside and cleaned up.

"You okay?"

"Yami," she was shaking. "Yami, do...do you have any blood on you?"

"What? No, I didn't, wait," he looked down at his hand where there was a light scrape from throwing his shotgun being hit from his hands. It wasn't profusely bleeding, but it had bled enough to make a light scab. He showed it to her, about to ask what was going on, but she grabbed it and sniffed it. He yanked it back as she made another gagging noise.

"What the hell!"

"Human." her eyes were wide, her skin deathly pale. "Those steaks, the daemons, the blood-that smell-"

She began to shake violently. "Cain's eating-deamons eat-and I, I _cooked_-"

He began to panic as she sank onto the floor, knuckles white against her head. Her wings melted against the hall walls.

"But I can't stand it, it makes me sick, that means I'm not one." she let out a dry, insane laugh. "Then what the hell am I?"

"What the freak are you going on about?" he asked, keeping his hand behind him in case she got the inclination to sniff it again.

"Daemons eat humans, and I cooked human for him, and then he drank my blood!" she shouted, bubbling with that insane laughter. "They smell like blood! You, Yugi, Joey, they eat you!" her giggling stopped abruptly as she tipped over in a dead faint.

For a good five minutes Yami stared at her, heart pounding and beyond disturbed. What just happened?

He heard the sound of an engine and car wheels roll onto the driveway and flinched.

"Aw, damn," he muttered.

Arms hooked underneath her shoulders, he dragged her back into his room and into the closet, then ran to the bathroom to make sure she had at least flushed the toilet. She had.

"Yami? You home?"

"Hey mom!"

"Come here, your brother's been hurt."

"Just a second."

He ran back into his room, made sure Angie was tucked away, and closed his closet door as well as his bedroom's. His unusually sweaty hands slipped on the doorknob.

His life had just gotten seriously ff'd up.

#$^%*&(^%$# #$%&^

"_You saw that, right? Please tell me that wasn't just me."_

"_Relax, Max, I saw it too. Jake?"_

"_What the…"_

"_I take that as you did too. Either that's a huge swan with a short head or-"_

"_It's Angelynn! I just know it!"_

"_Hold on to your horses, Max, it could be anyone-"_

"_Oh come on, Orphus, how many of us are there? Six? Five if you don't count Uncle Moe."_

"_Didn't he die last summer?"_

"_Nope. Still flying."_

"_Ugh, that means another midsummer pickle surprise mom will make us eat-"_

"_Oy! Focus! We're suppose to be finding Angelynn! Come on-"_

"_There's people down there!"_

"_Oh hell, Jake, your priorities are so screwed up."_

"_He has a point, Max."_

"_Whatever! I don't need you guys, I'll find her myself."_

"_Woa!"_

"_Wait, Max! There's a daemon down there!"_

"_He's gone. Can't believe you even tried, Orphus. Wait...do you smell that?"_

"_Aw hell…"_

"_There's two of them."_

"_Stupid bastard's going to get us all killed."_

#$%^%$# $%

When she woke up again, weak grey light showed the faint outline of four walls closer in to her than she remembered. She blinked, groaned at the pain in her back, and sat up, rubbing a part in her arm where there was a band aid above some bandages. She cringed as she touched it, then stared in horror at it.

It hadn't been a dream.

An old patchwork quilt was wrapped around her and she kicked out of it, releasing her wings. A few feathers had fallen out around her.

Panic rising in her chest, she scrambled out of the closet to find herself in a room she barely recognized as Yami's. Band posters of _One Republic _and _Nickleback_ hung on the walls and two guitars, an acoustic and a dark red electric, sat in the corner with a speaker. Besides having the smell of boy, the room was meticulously tidy and she recognized a familiar, spikey head poking out of some blankets on the bed.

She searched for a clock and crawled over to see the red numbers on his digital clock.

5:30

"Oh no," she put her hands to her face, cold tingling horror all along her arms. "Oh no oh no oh no."

"Mmm, wha?" said the lump. Another familiar spikey head appeared at the foot of the bed and the face of the smaller twin appeared, blinking sleepily.

"Angie?"

"I got to go home!" she leapt to her feet, wings flapping in panic. Posters fluttered and music sheets flew up from it's neat pile on the desk.

"Woa! Watch it!" cried Yami as he rolled out of bed.

"Where's Emerald Plaza from here?" she said, yanking up the blinds to see the street. "Where are you guys? I need to go home now! Cain's going to be home any minute!"

"Cain?" asked Yugi, rubbing his eyes.

Yami froze on the floor, hand over his face.

"Yes! And he's going to kill me! I'm not suppose to be out of the apartment without his permission!"

She held down her wings and fluttered to the door. Yami got to his feet and in two strides caught up with her and grabbed her arm.

"No."

She looked back at him, startled. "No what?"

"You aren't going back home, you can't."

Yugi frowned at his twin. "What are you talking about, Yami?"

"Last night you said that man drinks your blood...how can you even think of going back?"

Angie flinched and stared. So did Yugi.

"Did you just say...drink blood? Like a vampire?" asked Yugi, smiling as though ready to find the joke.

"If your godfather is anything like that-that _nightmare_ that almost killed us last night, you can't go."

Angie just looked at him, momentarily speechless. She had never felt the touch of a boy before. His hand was so warm, so soft, so unlike Cains. Then what he was saying to her came through and she felt her face grow hot with anger.

"Then where do you suggest a freak like me goes?" she snapped. "A circus? Shall I hide in your closet? Like it or not, but back with Cain is the only home I've got. It's not like I can get a job with wings or…" then she felt the blood drain from her face. "Where's my shawl?"

Yami and Yugi both frowned in confusion.

"You mean that thing that was hiding your wings?" asked Yugi.

"Yes!"

The twins just blinked. Yami didn't let go of her arm, though. His shoulders were tense and his expression conflicted.

"We'll...we'll figure something out."

"Like what?" Angie demanded. "Besides, Cain's been with me most of my life. If he meant to kill me he would have done so by now. Maybe he's different."

"And maybe he's just using you!" Yami cried. "I heard that demon last night, I saw the way it looked at you-you're dinner just as much as Yugi and I am, maybe even more!"

"Oh boy, I can't believe this is real." muttered Yugi on the bed.

Angie yanked her wrist out of his hand. "You're just a human, you wouldn't understand."

"Now there's something I thought I'd never hear." said Yami. "At least tell us where you live, in case something bad happens."

"No."

"Oh, for goodness sake!" cried Yami, "We're going to have to drive you there anyways, aren't we?"

Yugi glanced at the door nervously. "Um, could you guys quiet down? Mom and Jim are still sleeping, and dare they found out we hid a girl in our closet overnight, let alone one with wings..."

Angie and Yami glared at each other, neither one moving. Finally, she sighed in defeat and hung her arms at her side with a wince as she moved her injured one.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt...I'm sorry, it's just, Cain can be really scary."

"Another reason you shouldn't go, but!" Yami raised his hands as she started to protest, "We're going, we're going, throw a blanket over your shoulders, I'll get my keys."

"What do we tell mom if she wakes up and the car's gone?" asked Yugi, eyebrows furrowed. "You know we aren't allowed to take the car out before six."

"That's your problem."

Yugi gaped. "What!? You're leaving me to do clean up duty?"

"Better you than neither of us."

"You suck."

"I know."

She kept her wings tucked in tight as she left into the morning light with Yami to his beat up grey honda. He opened the door for her and she slipped in.

"Now, Yugi and I gave you some shots last night for rabies and tetanus and whatnot."

"You what?!"

"Was that bad?"

"No, it's just-where did you get those?"

He smiled at her as he put an arm on her seat and backed out. "And to think I'm still wondering how I've got some sort of angel in my car and am still sane."

She felt her neck heat up and looked away. "Please don't try to flatter me."

He came to the end of the street and pulled onto the main highway. "Flatter you? How am I doing that?"

"I'm no way near angelic." she bowed her head and put the blanket over it like a hood. "I'm hideous. If anything I'm like some mutated pigeon. I'm surprised you and Yugi haven't screamed and ran."

"Are you serious?"

She didn't say anything. What was there to say? It was the truth. Now that she wasn't caught up in the heated panic of getting back home before Cain and the loss of her shawl, she was baffled that Yami and Yugi hadn't tried to kill her like the daemon, but even helped her. Cain had always said should a human truely see her ugliness they would flee in terror at the sight. But they hadn't even flinched. Done plenty of staring, but not a single scream.

In a way, even if she was hideous, that was enough.

"I take it your godfather has fed you this?"

She was surprised to hear the growl in Yami's voice.

She peered over to see his teeth on end, his eyes narrowed and fingers tight on the wheel.

"I can't believe I'm actually taking you back to this man."

"He's the only family I got, Yami."

"Angie, he's not your family at all."

At the Plaza Yami pulled in up front which was usually reserved for Taxi's and pulled out a pen from the glove compartment.

"Give me your hand." he said, holding the cap between his teeth and testing it out on his own hand before writing down on the inside of hers. "This is my number. If anything happens, call me. Which apartment do you live in?"

"I won't have you appearing on my doorstep, Yami. Even if Cain is different he still eats human."

He gave a huff of exasperation. "Fine! But you will call me?"

She hesitated. "Yes."

"Now go!"

She jumped out, blanket clutched around her like a cloak, then caught the door as a thought hit her.

"Joey!" she gasped.

"He's fine. We text him last night. Didn't even notice a thing. Got ditched by his girlfriend though."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

"Now go before grumpy early birds start asking why you're hugging a quilt around you like some sort of hobo."


	6. Blood Price and Freaks

**My husband is reading again! Edits should be better. I convinced him it got better and that it wasn't all blood sucking parental abuse and that it actually had romance in it and now he's up for it!**

**And I'm hungry.**

**Read, review, tell me what you think, and pika y'all. **

Chapter 6: Blood Price and Freaks

"Yugi, where's your brother?"

Yugi smiled uneasily. He hated lying. Besides the fact that he was bad at it, it just felt wrong, no matter how good of a cause it was.

Despite that, he had his story ready.

"He went to go get me some ice. I've already gone through it all and my shoulder is hurting like a beast."

His mother frowned, running a hand through her scraggly dirty blond hair. "Didn't you take some ibuprofen?"

"Mom, my shoulder got torn up by a rabid dog, I'm going to need a lot more than ibuprofen."

"Didn't the hospital give you some painkillers?"

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't feel anything. Besides, the doctor said to keep it under ice, didn't he?"

She pursed her lips, still stained with leftover pink lipstick. "I suppose."

"And you know how Yami is."

"Fine. I'm going back to bed then. Tell Yami he's not suppose to take that car of his anywhere else for the rest of the day. I don't want to have to explain myself to Jim for letting him off."

Yugi didn't say anything to this and let his mom go. Only in his house was a good act punished nonetheless. Sighing, he picked up his phone and texted his brother.

**Better bring back some ice with you.**

He shut his door and went back to his cold bed. Yami and he hadn't slept in the same bed since middle school, but last night had been an exception. There had been no way he was going to leave his brother alone in a room with a beautiful girl, even if he did trust him not to do anything stupid. A smaller, more truthful voice told him it was because he knew he wouldn't have been able to sleep away from her knowing she was hurt, but that was stupid and he shook it off.

What he was more worried about was anyone realizing he had stolen those shots. He still couldn't believe he had done it, let alone how easy it was.

His phone vibrated and he pulled it out from beneath him, pulling his blankets up to his chin with his uninjured arm.

**I didn't bring any money.**

Yugi rolled his eyes and texted back.

**Its freaking ice. Just walk into a gas station and ask for a cup of ice from the machine. Say your brother got attacked by a doberman.**

** One weird looking doberman. **Texted Yami.

Yugi put his phone underneath his pillow and sighed. He must have lost his mind. If Angie hadn't been there when he woke up, silvery and winged, he would've thought it was all a dream, or rather, a wild nightmare.

And he still couldn't believe that he had school today still. Shouldn't the world have shut down on the occasion you should be attacked by some creature out of Dante's inferno? But no, there were people out there, going on with their everyday lives without a clue what had been hiding in the alleyway by Copperback dance club. Not even Joey, who they hadn't had the courage to tell. The twins knew they sounded crazy. Heck, even they thought they were crazy.

Yugi was just on the edge of falling back to sleep (the painkillers they had given him seemed to do their trick by making you want to sleep all the time), when he jerked awake to the sound of the front door closing. He waited, listening to Yami open and close drawers in the kitchen before he knocked on Yugi's door. Yugi called him in and Yami shut the door behind him, a plastic 32oz cup in his hand filled with ice and some ziplock bags.

"Your ice, your majesty."

"Is she okay?" asked Yugi.

"Your girlfriend is fine, as far as I can tell. I gave her my number in case she needs us."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Yet."

"Oh, shut up Yami, you don't know anything. Besides, maybe she can only fall for somebody else with wings, you know?"

They fell into an awkward quiet. Yami preoccupied himself with filling baggies full of ice and wrapping it into the pack that would sit on Yugi's shoulder.

"So, um, that math final is today." Yugi said weakly.

"What?" Yami cursed loudly.

"Yep, I thought so."

"How can there be a math test today of all days? I mean, honestly! I couldn't concentrate even if I wanted to!"

"Because God is mad at us."

"We saved an angel, maybe He'll make the teacher sick today and give us a break."

"How do you know she's an angel?" asked Yugi.

"Well, those things that eat people are called daemons, which is essentially a fancy word for a demon, so add a dab of logic and, presto! We got angels."

"Then what is Angie doing calling a demon her godfather?"

Yami wrinkled his nose and told Yugi to give him his shoulder so he could wrap the ice around it. "I don't know, that's why I have a bad feeling about letting her go home. Something's not right."

Yugi flinched at the touch of the ice, but otherwise held firm as yami packed the cold around his bandages.

"What if...what if that Cain guy does something bad and she can't call? What if he…" Yugi started to tremble and slid off the bed. Yami followed, protesting as he tightened the last velcro strap.

"You're being paranoid, Yugi."

"Am I?"

Yami didn't answer.

# $%&^%$#

She nervously closed the door behind her, searching the living room and kitchen for signs of Cain. She breathed when it became apparent he wasn't home yet. She went upstairs and did her best to build the illusion she had been home all night. When she took off Yami's shirt she hesitated. Where could she hide this? Cain would probably smell human. She looked around her room, found a duffel bag under her bed, and stuffed it in there. The trash downstairs was too dangerous.

She heard the front door close.

"Angelynn?"

"Coming!" she called, all sorts of icy needles pricking her gut. She couldn't lie to him about everything. She'd have to tell him something.

She came down, squeezing her wings as tightly as possible to her back and ignoring the pain of her protesting muscles. She smiled, trying to look normal.

"Get everything done that you needed to?"

Cain looked her up and down, black eyes unreadable and illusionary coat still on. There was no warmth in his expression.

"What happened to your arm?" he asked.

"I burnt it while cooking dinner, but don't worry, I'll be fine, but I have something to tell you." she bowed her head to give the appearance of meekness.

"You better have."

She drew back at the growl in his voice. "Something happened at school to draw attention to me. I didn't tell you because I thought everyone would eventually forget about it, but they didn't, so I broke my promise. I'll stay home from school, like I said I would."

"Why are your hideous wings out?"

"Um.."

"Are you going to tell me you burnt your shawl as well?"

The venom in his voice was terrifying. She tried to say something, anything, but only a squeak got out before her throat closed up. Her mouth had gone dry as a desert and she couldn't stop trembling.

"I thought not," said Cain, and from a within his coat he pulled out a tattered, but unmistakable, sheer grey shawl.

Her blood ran cold.

Cain didn't smile. His eyes only grew darker till the white was smothered in black. Claws inched into the gossamer fabric. "I went out to find the creature who was killing humans so recklessly in my territory and guess what he told me, Angelynn? He told me that he saw a young female birdie with grey wings and tried to devour her, naturally, as all daemon are inclined to do when we find your kind, but that two little humans that looked remarkably alike came to your rescue. Two twins that seemed to know you."

She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.

Cain pulled back his purple lips to reveal his gleaming fangs.

"You have been a bad girl, little Angel."

She forced herself to speak. "I'm not a daemon, then. You've lied to me. You've lied to me my whole life!"

"Not my fault you are so gullible." he said, so low it was a rumble. "You should be grateful I lowered myself to caring for you all these years."

"Caring for me? You kept me a prisoner! You never let me outside unless it was in the dead of night and wrapped in disguises! You don't care about me at all, or my safety. Yami and Yugi weren't freaked out by me like you said they would, so what were you hiding me from!"

The purple lips had almost vanished and all she could see of his mouth were teeth. Long, sharp fangs, open and salivating.

"Enough." he hissed.

The coat tore off and wings that could swallow the sun filled the entry hallway and kitchen. Black eyes bore down at her, colder than winter and black with hunger. She tried to scream but his clawed fingers wrapped around her throat. In a weak attempt to defend herself she raised her own, grey feathered wings and beat them weakly, but her back muscles spasmed and gave out.

"You could have been a daughter." he hissed. "But now you will be a prisoner."

He struck, digging his teeth into the curve where her neck and shoulder met. Pain filled her vision, she choked, cried out past his fingers, and begged for mercy.

"I've done everything you've asked!" she choked out.

But the world was spinning. Her heart was racing. Her fingers and feet tingled and grew cold. She felt faintly nauseous.

When he pulled away he rubbed his finger over the bite wound as he always had, leaving only white scars behind, and let her topple to the ground. She couldn't move. She shook with intense cold, and the tiles tilted beneath her like the deck of a ship on the ocean. All she could see of Cain was his boots, and she couldn't find the strength to even move her head. Blackness framed her vision.

"I will be back. I must clean up your mess."

The boots disappeared and the door closed. But Angie had managed to keep her left hand closed the entire time, hiding the numbers from the view of the daemon.

! #$%^&%$#

_"Orphus-"_

_ "Yeah, I smell him too. We need to leave."_

_ "But what about our sister?"_

_ "Max, you saw that daemon last night. We can't fight him. Father might have been able to go up against a daemon of his caliber, but we can't."_

_ "But what if he finds Angelynn?"_

_ "Calm down, Max."_

_ "But we followed her over here and he's over here too! Jake, Orphus, please, that could have been her-it had to have been her, we have to do _something!_"_

_ "Max…"_

_ "Why are you looking at me like that? We have to keep going, we have to! We're so close!"_

_ "Max, stop crying like a girl."_

_ "Shut up, Jake! You're such an ass!"_

_ "Will you two shut up for once!"_

_ "..."_

_ "..."_

_ "I think that daemon got a whiff of us when we flew over. He could be coming for us. If that's the case, we can lead him away from here, and possibly away from that other cherubim we saw. Even if he is more powerful than us, we are faster. That's always been the case with daemons. Our blood and the blood of humans weighs down in their bodies like lead, and by the smell of this one, he's drank more than his fair share."_

_ "...is that really all we can do, Orphus?"_

_ "I think so, Max. Don't worry. Angelynn is our sister, with our blood. She's strong."_

_ "Crap, guys, I think I see him!"_

_ "Then that's our queue. Fly, brothers, fly!"_

! #$%&^%$# #!$%^

She wavered in and out of consciousness. The cold reached in to her very core and she shook so violently she had already bruised her knees against the ceramic floor.

_I have to get to the phone,_ she thought. It was her only chance now, while Cain was away. But what if he came back and humans were here? There was no chance the twins could defend themselves against Cain.

She clenched her eyes shut, trying to get enough air to stop her head from spinning. But there were so many things she had yet to find out. If she wasn't a daemon, what was she? And if Cain wasn't her godfather, where were her real parents? Where was her real family? Could it be true that no one cared about her in the entire world? That no one cared whether she was alive or not?

But someone did care enough to pen their number onto her hand.

With all the strength she could muster, she rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself onto her elbows. The black threatened to take her under again. Panting, she pulled herself forward to the side of the counter, where the phone plug stuck into it's outlet.

Once she reached there, she passed out again, just to wake up reaching for the cord as though she never had.

"Come on," she told herself, "almost there."

Her fingers wrapped around the black cord. The home phone and it's base came tumbling down with a racket. She winced as the grabbed the phone, hoping against hope she hadn't broken it. But it was intact and buzzing, waiting for her to enter a number. Trembling, she fell back onto her side, opened her hand, and dialed.

The phone rang against her ear, filled with the sound of the heart that raced to keep what blood it had left circulating through her body.

Her vision blurred again.

The phone clicked. "Hello?"

"Yami," she breathed.

"Angie? Is that you?"

"Help. Help me. Yami." it came out as a sob. She could barely whisper. Where had her voice gone? This weakness terrified her. She felt so cold. So very cold.

"Where are you!?"

"Top...top floor, end of the hall."

"I'll be right there, Angie, just hang on, okay? Damn it."

"Ok."

"I'm getting my keys now. Angie, what did he do to you? Angie?"

But the relief she felt broke her last bit of resilience and the blackness came crashing in.

Cold. So cold.

!#$%^&*&^%$#

The class, including Yugi, stared as Yami suddenly bolted out of his seat and into the hallway with his vibrating phone in hand. The teacher tried to protest, but seeing the urgency in her student's face, settled back with a frown.

"Goodness, what was that all about? Yugi?"

But Yugi was already out the door with his brother, chest tight, mouth dry.

He came out just in time to hear Yami promising her he'd be there, face pale. He ran down the hall towards his locker and Yugi followed.

"I'm getting my keys now." his brother said, fumbling at the lock. "Angie, what did he do to you? Angie? Angie!?"

Yami stared at his phone, a familiar frightening expression on his face. Usually it was in defense of his brother, and seeing it for someone else gave Yugi a peculiar suspicion.

His twin cursed as he jammed his phone into his pocket and yanked open the locker.

"What happened?" Yugi asked.

"Angie. Somethings happened."

"I'm coming with you."

Yami just nodded, slammed the locker door shut, and ran with Yugi at his heels.

The fuzzy Chewbacca hanging from the rearview mirror swung as Yami and Yugi threw themselves into the car. Yugi tried to ignore the way his shoulder throbbed and protested at being used.

"We shouldn't have let her go." said Yugi.

"Tell me about it." said Yami as he threw the now rumbling honda into reverse.

"I can't believe this is our life now. Angels and demons."

"Well don't get too excited, I don't think it's all it's cracked up to be."

"Oh gee, I never figured. I only almost got eaten alive."

"Let's hope Angie wasn't."

Yami once more raced through the streets. At the towering Emerald Plaza, Yami spun the honda to a stop, nearly taking up three whole parking spaces, and leapt out of the car running for the elevator. Yugi held his arm in the sling close to him as he ran, sliding in besides Yami as he jammed the top floor button over and over.

"Pushing it multiple times isn't going to make it faster."

Yami ignored him and stared up at the floor numbers over the doors, which closed with a hiss. Slow saxaphone elevator music played.

"Mom's going to kill us when she hears we ran out of school." said Yugi faintly.

"And we're going to miss our math test." said Yami.

"Huh."

The elevator seemed to take an eternity. Yugi kept shaking off images of Angie bloody and dead in a corner, as well as a shrill voice that kept screaming in anxiety. Why did they have to be right? Why hadn't they fought harder to keep Angie with them?

At last, the elevator dinged and Yami and Yugi fell out in a dead sprint.

"Last door in the hall," Yami gasped.

The hall went straight down, doors peppering the walls, until it lead to one at the very end facing them. Yami skidded to a halt and twisted the doorknob. He cursed.

"Locked?" said Yugi incredulously.

"Damn it! Where's Joey when you need him!"

"Back in second period." Yugi groaned.

Yami tackled the door with a grunt of pain, but he kept at it. Yugi tore at his hair, frantically thinking of ideas.

The elevator dinged at the end of the hallway.

"Hold on, Yami."

Yugi ran back down a hall to where a little old lady with pink hair pinned to the back of her head walked out. She did plenty of staring as Yugi ran to her side, looking frantic.

"Please, ma'am, do you have an hairpin? My brother and I locked ourselves out of our apartment and our school project is in there! We're going to fail!" He surprised himself with how easy the lie came out. Today was the day of lies for him. God forgive him.

"Calm down," said the old lady, lipstick lips pursed, "I didn't know you lived up here."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "We've lived up here forever, I've introduced myself several times already."

"Oh," she said, blinking, "I guess my memory isn't what it used to be. Now let me see."

She fiddled with the pink bun on the back of her head until she plucked out a long, silver hair pin. She handed it to him with a crinkled smile.

"I didn't know anyone still knew how to pick locks." she said.

"Thank you so much!" And he ran back to Yami.

"Here." he said, stuffing the pin into Yami's hand.

His brother stared at it. "What am I suppose to do with this?"

"Pick the lock, of course!"

"Do I look like Joey to you?"

"It can't be that hard, they do it all the time in the movies."

"If it was that easy, Yugi, I doubt they would have kept building locks the same." But with no better idea Yami jammed the hairpin into the lock and jiggled it around. After a few minutes of frustrating, sweaty fumbling, Yami cursed and threw the pin to the floor.

"It's not working!"

"Need help?"

The twins looked around to meet the wrinkled smile of the pink haired old lady.

'What?"

"Do you need help getting in?"

"Yeah?" said Yami uncertainly.

Still smiling the little old lady picked up the hairpin from off the floor and straightened with a groan.

"Now, before I help you," she said, "what's the real reason you boys are trying to break into Mr. Cain's apartment?"

Yugi gaped and Yami scowled. Busted.

Rock in his throat and eyes starting to burn, Yugi bowed his head.

"Our friend's in trouble." he muttered. "She's really hurt, maybe worse, and she's in there."

The little old lady frowned. "You're friends of Angelynn?"

"You know her?" Yami leapt on it. "Please, yes, we promise we're not here for anything else."

The little old lady peered over her shoulder, smile melting to a frown. "Then we better hurry. I don't know how long he's going to be away. Move over."

She crouched in front of the door, snakeskin purse thumping against her thigh, and carefully stuck her hairpin into the lock.

"Um, ma'am, how do you know how to pick locks?" asked Yugi.

"And why are you helping us?" asked Yami. "I mean, we could be vagrants or robbers or anything."

"Then if you are, good riddance," she muttered, "use to work for the mafia in my day and my father bootlegged when he was younger. Had to open plenty of locks. Working with criminals gives you an eye for them, and that Cain, whew, never seen such wicked eyes in my life. That poor girl. Only talked to her once or twice, but she seemed so sweet."

There was a satisfying click and the door creaked open. Yami flew inside, Yugi behind him.

Angie lay on her side on the floor in a white nightgown, wings and hair spilt about her and pale as death. The phone still lay in her hand.

Yugi felt his heart break. More than ever she looked like a fallen angel, grey with death.

Yami fell at her side and put his fingers to her neck.

"Angie," he said, voice shaking, "Angie, can you hear me?"

Her lashes fluttered. Yugi felt light headed as he remembered to breathe then.

"Oh my,"

He turned to see the little ex-mafia grandma staring down at Angie with wide eyes. Yugi tensed. She looked from Yugi to Yami as Angie gave a little moan and closed her eyes once more.

"Cold." she whispered. "Please, cold."

"Yugi, find her a blanket."

Yugi bit his lip as he met the old lady's eyes and ran about the fine modern living room. When he found nothing, he headed up the stairs.

On the second floor he found two rooms. One was locked, but the other opened up to what could be none other than Angie's room. Every thought was wiped from his mind as he looked around at her painted walls, jaw dropped. Galaxies and clouds of every color spread across her ceiling, a silver moon in a window on the wall shining out with a sun on the other. And everywhere there were birds: fish birds, beautiful birds, ugly birds, short birds, tall birds, colorful birds, black birds, white birds, even birds that looked more like dragons than anything else. The only thing they held in common where the feathery wings lifting them about her room.

"Yugi!"

He came to earth with a jolt and grabbed the quilt off her bed. Downstairs Yami waited for him impatiently with a the curious woman hovering over Angie.

"Poor dear, what happened? And could those be real…?"

As Yami sat Angie up, who slumped onto his shoulder, Yugi went around and tried to fold her wings in to wrap up, to no avail. Growing more flustered by the minute, Yugi pulled out his belt and folded up a wing just to find Angie's neighbor folding up the other one with him. Meeting her eye, he nodded then wrapped his belt around Angie while she held Angie's wings up. Once he belted her wings closed, he wrapped the blanket over her and got at her side to help Yami support her.

Her legs did nothing beneath her and they found themselves dragging her to the door.

"I'll give Cain an excuse for you." said the little lady. "Don't worry about him."

"Thank you so much. You don't know how much you're helping."

She smiled. "I can imagine."

She followed them down the hall and opened the elevator for them.

"How can we repay you?" asked Yami. "You've saved her."

"By keeping that poor thing safe," she said softly, "I don't know why she has wings or why she's been hurt, but I can tell who's good and bad here. It's my specialty. Besides," she smirked, "that man has delicious steaks. Can't find anything like them anywhere."

Yami and Yugi didn't know what she was talking about, but waved her off as they entered the elevator and rode back down to the parking garage level. Yugi kept looking over his shoulder, expecting to see bat wings and blood thirsty eyes whenever he did, but no one followed them.

They laid Angie on the back seat and drove away with fear ringing in their ears.


	7. Friends and a Leap of Stupid Faith

**Happy 4th of July, people. And I'm a real hermit because i'm staying inside writing stories rather than going out to watch fireworks. I don't advise it. Stories are about life and you can't write good stories unless you experience it. **

**But I'm just a fat-butt hypocrite, so don't listen to me. :P**

Chapter 7: Friends and a Leap of Stupid Faith

(no really, for how little they planned it they should be dead)

The house was empty. Angie laid in Yami's closet, barely conscious, shivering under piles of quilts and feathers. Her pink lips had gone pale.

Yugi sat in the doorway, coaxing her with chicken noodle soup green with spinach. He had googled blood building foods and spinach had come up, along with red meats and a few other things, but he doubted Angie was anywhere in the mood or strength for steak.

"Come on, Angie. You have to build up your strength."

"What for?" she said, her voice quiet and weak.

"So you can get better." Yugi's hands tightened on the bowl. "We don't know if we can take you to the hospital if you need it, so, please…"

She looked at the bowl, then back at Yugi's pleading face. Shakily, using the walls for support, she brought herself up into a pseudo-sitting position and let Yugi place the bowl with a spoon on her hands, which spilled broth as she shivered. She looked down into it, as though looking for her fortune.

"He was always so concerned that I eat." she whispered.

Yugi leaned against the doorway and wrapped his arms around his legs.

"Who?"

But she didn't say, only shakily lifted the spoon to her mouth and sipped. She didn't comment on the taste.

Yami came in and sat down next to Yugi, acoustic guitar in hand. He rested the curved body against his legs.

"How is she?" he asked, plucking a few of the strings.

Angie took another sip of soup.

"Well, she's eating."

Yami raised an eyebrow at her trembling hand. He settled his fingers and did a few test cords before gently rolling into a song. She paused and looked at him with half-lidded eyes. She gave him a small smile and closed them, fingers wrapped about the bowl. Yugi felt his chest warm with satisfaction. It was the first smile they had seen since she had woken up and they had been worried about her. She only found out the only family member in her world was essentially using her and nearly killed her. Yugi gave his brother a thumbs up and Yami winked, then rolled into a familiar song.

The warm feeling went away as he read Yami's look.

"No." he whispered.

Yami frowned and looked at Angie pointedly. Yugi sighed. Why didn't Joey and Yami get it? But, if it helped her.

He started out soft, hoping to be heard and ignored at the same time.

"_When does honesty begin?_

_ And trust allowed to be born?_

_ I'm stumbling on lies, sick with surprise,_

_ and left wishing to just be alone. _

_ Alas, I'm a selfish kid_

_ waiting for a candy store to open._

_ Without a penny to spend, or a life to live in,_

_ being lied to again and again._

_ I'm pretending love exists,_

_ that there exists such a bliss,_

_ Could it be I was born for nothing?_

_ Is there anything better than this?_

_ If this is what it comes to,_

_ I'd rather be left in the dark._

_ Could it not matter, truth just to flatter_

_ the fairytale lover in me. _

_ But still I wait_

_ listening…."_

Yugi paused in the song and Yami went into the tinkling interlude in the song. Angie opened those evergreen eyes and looked into Yugi's, head cocked to the side, as though commanded by the song. Then he broke back into the chorus.

"_I'm pretending love exists,_

_ that there exists such a bliss._

_ Could it be I was born for nothing?_

_ Is there anything better than this?_

_ I'm pretending, _

_just pretending love exists,_

_that there exists such a bliss._

_Is there anything better than this?_

_Anything?_

_Anything."_

Angie had fallen asleep again, her bowl mostly empty. Yugi had never felt so charmed as he picked the bowl out of her lax hands and waited for Yami to stand up without bumping his guitar. Together they closed the closet door and tiptoed out of Yami's room.

As they closed Yami's door, their mother appeared, fire in her eyes and the phone in her hand.

The twins gulped.

"I take it by the looks on your faces you know who just called." she said, almost growled.

"Principle?" said Yugi weakly.

"His fault!" said Yami, pointing at Yugi, who flinched.

"What!?" cried Yugi. Yami was protective when it came to other people, but when mom came into the game, all the rules changed.

"According to the teacher you were the one who ran out first, Yami." she said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Diarrhea?" he said weakly.

"Yugi too? For five and a half periods?"

"Well, you know, we do sort of eat the same food, and we are genetically identical-"

"No we're not." said Yugi. Yami kicked him and he winced. "Right, diarrhea. It was awful, mom, do you have any pepto bismol in the kitchen?"

"Go pepto bismol!" said Yami with false cheeriness.

Mom gave them both a deadpan look. Yugi did his best not to look guilty. It was in the name of Angie they had to lie. If they told their mom they had ran out to kidnap their friend from her house because her evil godfather had sucked her blood...yeah, right, like she'd believe them. But they could always show her Angie themselves. Maybe she could help, make a home here for her. He and Yami could share a room and she could have one to herself. Maybe. He'd have to talk to Yami about it.

Meanwhile, his mom didn't look anywhere near open for surprises. She just looked mad.

"I don't know why you are lying to me," she said, fingers tight against her rib cages, "but I don't like that you think you can get away with it. You are both grounded from band practice."

They both whined at this.

"Moooom!"

"That's our career!"

"Can't you just make us clean the whole house or something?"

"Except your bathroom."

"Yeah, not your bathroom."

"No." she said solidly. "It's for the best anyways. Jim's been regretting giving you the garage."

"Hypocrite!" Yami exclaimed before Yugi could stop him.

"Excuse me?"

A new feeling of trouble came over Yugi that was a totally different kind of fear than that which their mother induced. Jim, goateed, broad shouldered, and beer bellied, had just walked out of the master bedroom behind them.

They didn't dare meet their mother's eyes, afraid of what they'd see there, and turned: Yugi with a sense of resignation and Yami doing a poor job of containing his glower.

Jim had that tight jaw that always came before his anger. His eyes had already started to pop.

"You boys should be grateful I'm even allowing you to have those instruments in the house when I need to get up at four in the morning for work."

"We're sorry."

"Be quiet, Yugi. I'm tired of your brother speaking up for your mouthiness. He just gets you both in trouble."

"You said we could have the garage." said Yami.

"I said if you built me a carport you could, but apparently I had to do it."

"You offered!"

"What was that, boy?"

Yugi cowed and tugged on Yami's sleeve. He tried to meet his brother's eyes, silently pleading for him to shut his mouth and just take it. Anything Yami would say would just make it all the worse and it was already hard enough for mother.

But he recognized the angry blaze in Yami's face. Curse his brother's temper. You think after five years with the man he would have learned.

"After we found those bodies in the junkyard trying to make your carport, you offered to build the carport yourself to make it up to mom!"

"Don't drag her into this." Yugi hissed.

"What was that!" boomed Jim, and Yugi looked at the floor.

"Nothing." he said meekly.

"It didn't sound like nothing. I won't have you whispering stuff about me while I'm right here!"

All the while their mother sank away from the hallway to some shadow in another part of the house. She always explained to Yugi that it was Jim's way of 'disciplining' them and she wanted him to feel like he could be a father to them, but it didn't make the feeling of abandonment any less.

"Leave him alone!" said Yami, stepping in front of Yugi, "he's just afraid you're going to drag our mother into this and start yelling at her too!"

"Enough of your sass! You boys need to learn some respect! I work all day long to give you a house and food on the table, and then you have the nerve to call me a hypocrite because I'm tired of you using _my_ garage, that I pay for, to make your dirty, emo racket!"

"It isn't emo!" Yami shouted back. "It's not our fault you're tone deaf!"

"It is what I say it is, you ungrateful brat!"

Yugi inwardly groaned. There was no backing out of this now. Why couldn't Yami just keep his mouth shut!

Jim charged forward and grabbed Yami by the spiky hair. Then he grabbed Yugi's as well, who cried out in surprise and pain.

"Let go of him!" cried Yami.

"Oh no, I know you twins. What one says, the other thinks. You're the mouth, he's the brain, that's how it always is."

"You don't know anything!" spat Yami, hands at the roots of his hair. "And I know what you did to our mother the other night, and you should be grateful that I haven't thrown you out myself!"

Jim's hand left Yugi's hair and Yugi closed his eyes tight, not wanting to see what he knew was about to happen next.

The sound of flesh upon flesh filled the hall.

"You shut your ignorant mouth, boy! I'm done! You think you're being a friend by staying here? You think you're protecting someone? You aren't helping anyone! You're no one's friend! I waste my time and my food and my money on your disrespecting ass for what? Get your damn ass back in your room! I don't want to see your sorry, stupid face for the rest of the week, you hear me?"

Yugi felt himself roughly shoved.

"And open your eyes! Stop acting like some sissy, Yugi, and act like a man for once. What are you, gay?"

Yugi opened his eyes quickly and made his way to his room, not too quickly and not slow, for if he did it would only anger Jim more. He locked his door, took a great shuddering breath, and tried not to think.

_ Breathe_, he told himself, _just focus on breathing. Block it out. Block it out._

Numbly, and almost dream like, he went to his keyboard, slipped on his headphones that were almost always plugged in, and set his fingers on the keys.

_Breathe_, _just play. Focus on the music. Don't think about him. Don't think about the words or the sound. Seventeen is almost to eighteen, it's almost over, then you can live your life however you want._

But he found himself staring at the black and white keys, a lit with a buzzing mind and insides that felt raw.

Mother must have wanted to discuss Jim's 'parenting methods,' because only a few minutes later the thunder started from the master bedroom, making his ears throb.

He felt his phone vibrate.

**Come to my room.**

Yugi's chest ached more than ever as he became humiliated at the thought of Angie listening in on all this. Unlocking his door and checking to make sure the coast was clear, he closed his door quickly behind him and dived down the hall to his brothers.

Yami also made sure to lock the door behind him as Yugi dived in. Angie sat slumped against the closet door frame, wings limp beneath the quilt and eyelids purple with fatigue.

"What's going on?" she asked, so quiet Yugi had to strain underneath the noise to hear her.

"We're leaving." said Yami.

Yugi froze mid-way to sitting in front of Angie. He looked hard at his brother, whose mouth was thin and eyes wilder than ever.

"Leaving?" he asked faintly.

"I've already texted Joey. He's all go for it."

"Of course he is! That was his idea from the start!"

"Well we have Angie now, Yugi, so if we're ever going to do it, better do it now."

"Huh?" Angie blinked up owlishly at them. "What do I have to do with this?"

"But what about school?" asked Yugi. "What if we don't make it, we'll become homeless! No one wants to hire high school dropouts."

"But we won't fail, Yugi." His twin grabbed his shoulders and shook him lightly. "I'm never kidding when I say I believe in you and that you need to get over this stupid self-esteem issue you have. Joey believes in you too!"

"When did this become all about me?"

Yami broke into a devilish smirk. "Because Joey and me know we're good enough."

Yugi shook his brother off, scrambling for any excuse to ease the panic inside him. "But, mom, who will take care of her?"

"We're not taking care of her here as it is," said Yami harshly, "she won't let us. Maybe if we leave it might wake her up."

"You know Jim's not right, Yami."

"As long as mother let's him be like that...he is. I'm not helping anyone by staying here."

Yugi bowed his head, hands clenched. He suddenly felt ashamed for hoping Yami would shut up. His brother should never have to be afraid to speak his mind in his own home. He had always treated Joey's jokes about leaving school and starting their band as just that, jokes, because he couldn't imagine surviving on his own without a high school diploma. But now that Yami was taking it seriously, he started to. He could always come back and get his G.E.D. But he couldn't think that way if he was going to do this. He had to try believing that they could do this.

Because any thought of asking his mother if Angie could stay there had left his mind. He wasn't going to bring Angie into a miserable pit like this after leaving her own nightmare. If anything, they had to leave for her sake. He couldn't let anything happen to her.

She was looking up at him, confused.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Away." Yami said. "We're going to start our music career."

"Can I come?" she asked meekly, looking suddenly afraid as though they'd say no.

Yugi chuckled. "Of course, silly. We were going to take you with us anyways. Weren't you listening?"

"It's hard to focus." she said.

"Well, listen this time." said Yami, and he crouched down in front her, meeting her eyes. "We didn't help you just to plop you out onto the street. We're your friends now, Angie, and you're never going to be hurt again if we can help it."

She stared back at him, heavy lids widening, pale lips parting ever so slightly. Yugi sat next to her as well, putting a hand on her arm.

"Besides, you wanted to hear us play, didn't you?" he said.

Her eyes grew ultra bright. The next thing they knew she had burst into tears.

"Why?" she sobbed. "Why are you doing this? You hardly know me and I'm a freak! You don't have to protect me, I'm in this because of my own stupid choices."

Yami and Yugi glanced at one another. The fire in Yami's died as he softened and they both smiled.

"I guess there's just something about meeting a demon in an alleyway," said Yami.

"And being saved by an angel," said Yugi, "that just makes friends."

She cried harder, but she beamed at them, as though she had just woken up to find out it was Christmas and Santa had brought her exactly what she wanted and more.

"You guys are so weird."

"And this coming from the girl with wings."

Together they waited out the yelling match for when their mom would once more come knocking on her door, crying, and they softly told her that they were okay and that they'd do as Jim said. If they were to leave, they couldn't tell her. They were only 17, after all, and even though being 18 was less than a year away, the world was still within legal rights to drag them back. Not to mention that if she knew of Angie, Cain could charge them with kidnapping...could he? Could seventeen year olds be charged with kidnapping?

"Who cares," said Yami, "we'll be long gone before anyone pieces it together. And you know what the best part is? If they try to track my car down, grey 1998 hondas are probably the most common car in the galaxy!"

"What about Chewbacca?"

"I'm not the only Star Wars fan out there, you know."

As they talked, Angie drifted off to sleep in the closet, swathed in a nest of quilts and boy clothes, still with a smile on her face.

! #$%^&*(^%$#

Night came and Marik was limping more than ever. Hungry, starving even, he had holed up in his perfectly clean basement apartment and glowered at the door.

Whoever was knocking on the other side he didn't want to greet.

At first he thought if he just ignored them they'd go away, but everyone who could have known the boys who lived here knew they were dead, and everyone else on the street knew this apartment was empty. Most humans weren't keen on living where a murder had been committed. But whoever it was kept knocking, and at last they spoke.

"I know you're in there, Marik."

He hissed. He knew that voice. That voice was the reason he was in this state in the first place. Rotten bully. "Go away."

"You're lucky I'm being polite, Marik. I'll keep being so if you let me in."

"What do you want?"

"To...make a deal."

Malik snorted. "You tear a chunk out of my leg so I can't hunt, you track me down to my home, and now you want to make a deal? I already told you everything I know about your stupid pet bird, what more could you want?"

"Do you remember her smell?"

"Of course I do!" he paused. "Why?"

"Last time: Let. Me. In."

Marik hesitated. Either way the bigger and more powerful daemon would get it. The best thing he could do was keep him in a good a mood as possible. Pride stinging, he limped towards the door like some whimpering dog. He hated it. "You touch me and I'll kill you."

"Sure you will."

He opened the door. The tall, dark skinned man filled the doorway. One can tell the power a daemon is able to glen by the color of it's skin. Power is defined by the amount of pure blood you are able to ingest, and seeing as the man had that virgin cherubim in his grasp for ten years, keeping her alive to off of...it wasn't surprising. You didn't get blood much purer than that.

Marik, on the other hand, had skin the color of a tan.

Thus, he fought not to cower. His heavily bandaged calf protested as he straightened himself and folded his arms tight over his chest.

"Why do you need me, oh great one?" said Marik.

The larger daemon closed the door behind him and took off his illusionary coat, another impressive show of power. There were only so many of those in the world.

He looked down at Marik unsmiling. "When you've drank as much cherubic blood as I have, your sense of smell dulls. Not to mention you have one of the strongest sense of smells I've found in our kind." Cain looked around at his apartment pointedly, "as your meticulousness shows. You'd make a good bloodhound."

Marik said nothing, though he snarled. He couldn't remember the last time he had met a daemon powerful enough to demean him so without the slightest hint of fear. It rubbed him wrong in places he didn't know existed.

"I need you to track her down."

"Your pet bird?"

Cain nodded. Marik snorted.

"What's in it for me?"

"Your life, you flightless bastard."

"What kind of deal is that!" Marik cried before he could stop himself. He had been alone for far too long.

Like a switch Cain came at him, heavy with power, but undeniable. He found himself with those black hands tight about his throat, claws scraping bits of paint and drywall onto his sanitized cement floor. Lights popped in front of his eyes.

He gagged for air, fangs scraping fruitlessly at the air.

"I think it's a fairly good deal myself." said Cain. "And you are to find her before the morning. The cherubim that cut you down know she's around."

He dropped Marik and he slumped against the wall, coughing.

"Why before morning?" Marik croaked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Don't you know? Cherubims are creatures of light. They don't fly at night like the fearful children they are."

Marik frowned. He remembered the other girl distinctly flying away from him in the night, but Cain had insisted she couldn't fly, so he hadn't bothered correcting him. Why would he care if he got his pet bird just so he could get more powerful and lord over Marik even more? Though he hated this pretty birdie, he hated Cain more.

Leg trembling, injured wing aching, Marik forced himself to stick out his wrists to the other, the daemon's sign of subservience. The wrists were one of the easiest places to bleed one out, slowly and painfully.

"Do you mind filling up my truck then?" he tried not to snarl.

"Why? When you'd be much more useful from the air."

Marik winced. There was nothing more humiliating for a daemon than to be flown by another. It implied weakness, dependence, helplessness. Besides the fact, one glance at the other daemon's massive wings, which he couldn't see how they fit in his apartment, told him that the other would at least be able to carry him, easily.

"Fine." he spat.

Those birds were going to die for sure. He'd tie them down and eat them alive, bite by bite, for the humiliation they continued to heap on him.

#$%&^*^%$# !#$%^

At midnight, when the twins were sure their parents would be oblivious (their step father snored like a foghorn and their mother wore ear plugs because of it), they pulled out the bags they had packed in the evening and their instruments and walked out to the honda. Yami popped the trunk and they stuffed their luggage in. The electric guitar speaker was tricky, but a twist and turn and it was in.

"Joey's going to have a trick of a time finding space for his drums." said Yugi as he blew on his chilled fingers. The spring nights still held a bite of leftover winter.

"He'll live."

They went back in to help Angie, who had managed to dress herself in a pair of Yami's pants, but still had Yami's shirt on backwards. Her old nightgown sat neatly folded in front of her and her face was scarlet.

"Um…" she fidgeted. "None of your shirts were built for wings."

As what she said sank in, both Yami and Yugi blushed. They stood awkwardly there for a minute before Yugi coughed.

"Shouldn't be too big of a problem. I'll cut the shirt from the bottom and you can slip it over and we can safety pin it closed."

She smiled unevenly. "I was thinking something like that."

Once they found some safety pins in the bathroom cupboard they turned, hands stuffed into their pockets to keep their fingers from fidgeting. Both brothers felt distinctly hot in the neck. They had made it a thing not to delve too deeply on the subject of the appearance of the female body, due to personal reasons and also because of their fear of become walking dicks (not to mention it was just plain pain to look at a sexy girl you couldn't have and they had enough misery in their lives), but that didn't stop them from wondering.

After a minute Yami's shirt was thrown over Yugi's head and into his hands. It smelt distinctly un-Yami-ish and he almost stuffed it in his face to detect the scent. Something sweet. Something distinctly girly.

"Crap, get some scissors, Yugi." said Yami, nose pink.

"You get scissors!"

"Oh, please," and a pair of scissors was hung over their shoulders. They stared at it, trying not to follow the arm.

"Uh, thanks." said Yugi.

Yami, since it was his shirt, found the seams and made the cuts..

"Why couldn't you just cut it?" he asked as he did so. "You must have had to modify tons of shirts. I don't even know how far to cut."

"I've never worn somebody elses clothes," she said, "and I don't know if I could cut up somebody else's shirt like that when I've gotten so few clothes in my life. You know, some people in Africa go naked."

The twins rolled their eyes and threw back the shirt. After she slipped it on they turned and worked together on the floor to pin the cut fabric together beneath her wings, which quivered as her worn back muscles strained. Once finished and topped with a blanket they each put an arm under her shoulders and helped her out to the car.

"Um, Yami?" said Angie as they helped her into the back seat, quilt and all.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you have a shotgun? No, scratch that, how'd you get a shotgun? I thought teenagers couldn't buy guns, let alone legally conceal them in their trunk."

Yami smirked and Yugi sighed.

"I'm getting in before you keep us stuck here all night." said Yugi, walking to the passenger side and sliding in.

Yami scowled. "What?"

"I can just feel a lecture coming on, that's all. Guns this, guns that, it's 2nd amendment right for all citizens to own guns, yada yada."

"Not to mention Jim's an asshole."

"That has nothing to do with it. That's your paranoia."

A light flicked on inside the house. All three teens nearly screamed.

"Freak, that's what you get for talking so much!" said Yugi. "Hurry!"

Yami jumped into his car and revved out of the driveway so fast he almost hit the trashcan. A figure started to open the door right as they sped down the road. Yugi made frantic squeaking noises that could have passed for screaming as he stared behind him.

"Oh man, oh crud, oh shit-why did you have to talk so freaking loud, Yami?"

"Me? You were talking too!"

"They're going to call the cops on us, I swear it, and we still need to fill up and get Joey!" Yugi's eyes widened. "You did remember to bring your card, didn't you?"

"Yep. Kinda important to have money."

Yugi let out a breath of relief. "That's a relief."

Angie leaned forward, leaning her chin on Yugi's seat. "If you had needed money you should have told me before this whole fiasco. I've got a stash of allowance under my bed."

"That demon gave you money?" said Yami.

"Oh yeah. Gave me a means to buy paints and music and stuff, and he couldn't keep me entertained all the time."

"You were annoying, weren't you?"

"I guess so. So why do you have a gun?"

"It's my right, no matter what those idiots in congress think" said Yami with a sniff, "and I got it from Aunt Nora."

Yugi chuckled. "Aw, Aunt Nora. Secretary to the NRA."

"The National Rifle Association?"

"Yep."

"Wow." said Angie.

"And mildly obsessive. She's where Yami got his doctrine." said Yugi.

"It's not doctrine, Yugi! Gall, don't you care about your God given rights?"

"Red neck down, man, red neck down."

"And I'm just not going to say anything about the legality of that." said Angie.

Joey was waiting for them at the Seven Eleven, cases of drums around his feet and a duffle bag over his shoulder. It was interesting to note that Copperback was only a few streets over and hobos were eyeing Joey from behind, as though wondering if he was worth trying to mug. The Seven Eleven itself had bars over it's windows and doors.

"Quick, man, our parents woke up as we were leaving." said Yami.

"Some secret agents you are." said Joey, lifting a set of drums towards the open trunk. "Damn, didn't leave much room for me did you? Can't I throw these in the back seat?"

"Sorry. Someone's already back there."

Joey nearly dropped a precious drum. "Excuse me?"

"You know that girl Yugi's in love with?"

"Oh my gosh, Yami, what is your problem!" said Yugi the open front window in exasperation.

Joey blinked. "No way."

"Yes way." said Yami, smirking.

"Sweet for Yugi and all, but, how the hell-"

"Explain to you on the way. Just get your drums in."

"Why didn't you explain already?"

"You'll understand once we tell you. Now hurry, cops, hello!"

"Does your mom or Jim happen to know your license plate number?" asked Angie sleepily from the back seat, tucking the last of her feathers in her blanket and yawning.

"I don't think so. Mom's preoccupied and I don't think Jim's looked at this ugly thing twice."

Much cursing and yelling from Joey later, the drums were in without a hair of room left in the trunk and they were on their way, with Joey sitting awkwardly next to a mostly asleep Angie.

"Huh, I always knew her hair was dyed." he said. "No offense."

"None taken." she mumbled sleepily.

The freeway lights flickered over them, painting them with varying shades of yellow, dark, and orange. Chewbacca swayed with each turn on the rearview mirror, face hidden by furr and night.

"Okay, before you explain why she's here," Angie peaked open a sleepy eye at Joey's finger pointing at her, then closed it again, "where are we going first?"

"Where we originally planned," said Yami happily, "wherever we freaking want."

"What! We don't even have a plan?" cried Yugi, making Angie flinch awake.

"Calm down, Yug," said Joey. "We'll go to the cities, play on the streets, play wherever we can, get heard, get tips."

Yugi smacked his hand over his face. "God, help us, for we're going to try and live off of tips."

"Have a little faith, Yugi," said his brother, "I've got five thousand in savings. Once we're away from this town, we'll take it out and drive to the next big city."

"We're so dead." said Yugi.

"Agreed," said Angie suddenly, her handing snapping out to point into the sky, right where the patchy roof material sagged and the windshield begun. They all leaned over, squinting.

"What is that?" asked Joey. "A lumpy bat?"

"Shit." said the twins.


	8. Not So Honest Roadkill and Burgers

**Sorry this is a bit late. This week was full up of bellydancing performances, a wedding, and funeral. X.X And, of course, being a mom and writing for other people because they said they'd give me money (kinda makes me sound like a whore)... BUT IT'S HERE!**

**yay. **

Chapter 8: Not So Honest Roadkill and Burgers

(and maybe big bad boss shows some fear)

Her body felt like lead, even spiked with fear. She watched as the large form of Cain came closer and closer, and found herself ducking like a coward behind Yami's seat. How could this be happening?

"What?" asked Joey.

"Keep Angie down, maybe he won't notice us." said Yami. "I'm pretty sure that's who we think it is, and he's a lot bigger than that last demon."

"Yami, look out!"

There was a solid thump on the roof, and Angie looked up to see it dented in considerably. The floppy fabric that had already been clinging to the ceiling for it's life came down an inch from Joey's nose and he swore loudly as he pressed himself into the back of the seat. He kept swearing even as Yami swerved the car sporadically and Yugi shouted above the squealing of the tires.

She had to do something-anything-but as she ducked her head down once more she gave a wail both out of fear and despair that, even if she could do something, she was too weak to do it. Black was already splotching her vision as her heart found it didn't have enough blood to keep up her hyperventilation.

A horrible screeching sound came from claws against metal and the daemon on the roof screamed as a semi came by with a loud blare of its horn. She heard a smack and then tires were screeching everywhere. All the guys were screaming now and her vision was blotching further.

Metal crunched like thunder, glass shattered in a hair raising cacophony, and car horns went off like someone had scored a goal at a NFL football game.

And then, quite suddenly, it was over, and the only sound that remained was the hum of the engine and the rumble of the car wheels over the road.

All of them were gasping for air. She peeked up over Yami's seat to see the freeway before them, emptier than usual, with streetlights passing them as though nothing had happened. His fingers were white on the steering wheel and Yugi was clutching his seatbelt like a lifeline. Next to her, Joey had his lanky legs pressing against the floor and pushing him into the back seat and his hands clinging to the handhold above the door. All of them were pale and wide eyed. Chewbacca had flown from the rearview mirror and had gotten stuck head first between Yugi's seat and the middle console.

"Oh, god, we're alive." said Yugi.

It broke the spell and Joey exploded.

"What the hell! What the freaking damn hell from outer space-WHAT JUST HAPPENED!"

"I think we just caused a car accident." said Yugi faintly.

"A car accident? That was a freaking melee! If the cops ever find us-you got this car insured?"

"'Course." said Yami faintly, fingers still tight on the wheel.

"What the hell was that thing?!" He looked like he was about ready to flail his fists around.

"My godfather." said Angie.

Joey stared at her. "You're-what?"

"He's not exactly human." said Yugi.

"I gleaned that much when he _flew down_ and tried to cave the roof in on my face!"

"Will you stop yelling already?"

"Why aren't you? Damn it, Yami, we almost died-we should have died!"

"I know, I am sort of driving."

"And what the hell was that thing! What's going on here!"

"If you'd shut up-"

"It's her! It wants Angie!" Joey turned to her with wild eyes and for a moment she thought he'd grab her and throw her out the door, but to her surprise when he yanked her out of her seat he crushed her to his chest. "Don't worry, kid, we won't let him have you!" Then she felt him freeze beneath her. It only took her a second to realize the blanket was still on the floor.

There was a still silence broken by another, "WHAT THE HELL!"

"Joey-"

"She has wings! Guys, she has freaking feathery-"

"Joey-!"

"-bird wings!"

"SHUT UP!" Yami roared.

The sound in such a small space was deafening. Angie trembled at the sound. She had never been one for loud noises and felt distinctly unnerved. She tried to tug herself away from Joey, and he let her go instantly. Her head spun and she thumped back against the door, wings cramped in the tight space. Feathers seemed to be everywhere.

When Yami didn't make any sign of explaining, but rather kept glaring out at the road with his steel grip on the steering wheel, Yugi twisted himself on the seat to look Joey in the eye.

"Now, if you'll just keep a hold of yourself and stop screaming, I'll tell you everything."

# $%^$# $%^

Marik hurt. The bastard had flown right down to the car he pointed out as though oblivious to the fact it was going 80 miles an hour and the impact of an oncoming semi had thrown Marik into the air. Now he lay on the asphalt surrounded by a wall of crushed metal boxes filled with bloody humans, hurting, but not dead. Being a daemon was probably the only thing that had saved him.

Clean black shoes, scuffed by the road, appeared in his blurry vision, along with the tips of vast wings.

"Get up."

Marik groaned. Now his injured wing was the least of his concerns.

"I said get up. I know you can. I threw you specifically so you could."

Ah yes. Cain needed him, the lowly bloodhound. Maybe it would have been better if he had died.

Idiot! Why had he flown down like that!

"We could have just followed them till they ran out of gas." croaked Marik.

The shiney boot poked at his face.

"I have my reasons." growled Cain. "There's more going on then someone like you would know, now _get up_."

Marik fought down the urge to bite deep into those fugly shiney shoes and slid his arms beneath him. Sure enough, though he ached appropriately for being hit by a semi, his body responded and he was able to ease himself up. He kept his gaze to the street, certain that if he looked Cain in the face he'd lose it and attack.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

Marik had just gotten to his knees and looked up at, unmistakably, a third daemon. Inwardly, he groaned. So much for being left alone.

She was tall and tan as he, with long disgusting blond hair. She had the look and body that reminded him of that filthy naked female poster he had torn down from the wall. Ugly. She was ugly. But her wings folded unmistakably against her back.

"None of your business, Mai." growled Cain.

"Certainly is if you're blowing your precious 'low profile' by causing mass accidents in the middle of Interstate 50." she leaned to the side and put her hand to her hip. "You've given me enough crap for sneaking into high schools in broad daylight."

"It's unnatural." spat Cain.

"Please," she rolled her eyes, "it's called sunglasses, clothes, and an umbrella. Try it some time."

Marik said nothing to this strange daemon maid that dared the day. He wouldn't go out into the sunlight even with the protection she suggested, even if offered a birdie. Besides, it just sounded like one big migraine.

The sound of sirens came from the distance.

Cain turned and yanked Marik to his feet. "Go away." he said to her.

"And after I came all this way?"

Cain slung Marik over his shoulder, ignoring the cries of pain he gave, and jumped into the air, wide wings blowing aside gas flames from cars and sending waves of glass into glittering clouds.

Marik looked up to see the daemon, Mai, following. He rolled his eyes and mushed his face to the smelly dress shirt of Cain. He didn't care anymore what was with her. For all he knew the sun had driven her mad.

Being younger and not as heavy with blood, she caught up to Cain easily enough, who sighed.

"Your curiosity isn't entirely unsuspicious."

"Well, I don't like you, but I know you're no hypocrite. A liar, but not a hypocrite."

Cain's chuckled rumbled beneath Marik's chest. "How you pretend to know anything."

"There's been some birds in the air. You're distracting them with that wreck. Why?"

Marik's ears perked. Birdies? It could only be those damn brothers that got him into this situation. Damn them damn them damn THEM!

"Cheribums don't fly at night." said Cain.

"Doesn't matter, they'll smell the mass bloodshed in the morning and have to investigate. It's their nature. You couldn't be trying to distract them from following you, they're no threat to you. If anything I should be asking why you aren't letting them come to you for a meal."

"Female, your prattle irks me."

"Then I'll just follow you."

"Don't make me kill you."

"Like you could catch me."

"Who said I had to catch you?"

Marik shivered at the malicious smirk he could hear in Cain's voice. This daemon really was mad. Served her right for wandering into daylight. The sun did things to you, it just did. Look at how disgusting and weird humans were?

"You won't kill me." said Mai. "If anything you'll just use me as a distraction for the cheribums too at one point or another. That is what you're doing with that lump on your back, aren't you?"

"He is my tracker."

"How romantic." said Mai.

"But you are right about one thing," Cain adjusted Marik so he dangled beneath him, bruised, bloody, and with full view of the world that would rush up to crush him should Cain let him go. "You would make a lovely emergency distraction."

And with that Cain flew on, allowing Mai to trail above them a few dozen feet.

#$&^%$#$

"_You smell that?"_

"_Traffic accident. There's still glass on the road."_

"_Yeah, but I mean the daemon blood. It's all over that semi. It's...potent."_

"_You're so limey, Orphus. You meant to say it reeks, ugh. Damn."_

"_For once I agree with you. We should probably check it out, Orphus. We need to account for every daemon death so we can keep track of how many are in the area."_

"_And also figure out what the hell a daemon was doing on a freeway."_

"_I don't know, guys, somethings seems off about this."_

"_Naturally. When has a deamon been hit by a semi?"_

"_I'd pay to see that."_

"_You're gross."_

"_Don't let mother here you say that, Jake. She'll give you the 'kindness for your enemy' speech."_

"_Just get down there and check it out."_

"_But there's cops!"_

"_That's why YOU need to go down, you shrimp! You're the only one that fits in the coat!"_

"_No I do not! And I'm not a shrimp!"_

"_Whatever, just get down there already!"_

"_And be careful, Matt, I still feel uneasy about this. And hurry, we need to find the trail of the daemon if we're to find Angelynn."_

"_Pfft, sure. One day I'm going to hit a growth spurt, though, and then Jake will have to squish into the stupid coat."_

"_Just go already."_

!# $%^$%# $%%#

Yugi groaned as he turned his stiff neck and adjusted the ragged wool indian blanket. He was surprised to find he had actually fallen asleep. Car seats were obviously not intended as beds and he had tossed and turned for what felt like hours, listening to Joey's snores and Angie's light clicking as she breathed in. In the driver's seat beside him was his brother, seat tilted back like Yugi's and cheek mushed against the window. The morning light painted the car gold and pink. Rubbing his sticky eyes, he squinted outside to see where they had ended up. Yami had pulled the car into a rest stop with a dainty little lawn surrounded by trees and cinderblock building holding restrooms. Behind them, across the highway, was a large field glittering with the rising sun and speckled with cows.

As to where they were in proximity to Domino, he hadn't a clue.

Still trying to squish the stickiness out of his eyes with his hands, he got out of the car and made his way over to the restrooms like a zombie.

He didn't bother to wonder if last night had really happened.

Bladder empty, yawning, and not yet hungry for breakfast, he grabbed his notebook from the car and sat down in the dewy morning grass beneath a tree. Across the light blue sky were clouds, with pink bellies and fiery sunlit heads. He took it in, breathed it all like liquid life, and put his pen to paper. After a few sentences he started wondering if it was worth it to wake up Yami to pop the trunk for his keyboard, then thought better of it.

He had filled up several pages before a shadow on him. Angie plopped down in front of him, pale, and with her quilt still wrapped tightly around her. She rubbed at her eyes, yawned, then curled up onto the ground. A few feathers poked out where the quilt rode up.

"Morning." he said. "If you're still tired maybe you should go back to the car."

She nuzzled her face into her arms. "More comfy here. I like it outside. I like sun."

Yugi turned back to his notebook, but his pen didn't move. His thoughts kept turning back to the feathers. Birds chirped in the branches above and a cow across the street mooed.

Finally, he gave up, and put his notebook aside.

"Angie?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I...can I touch your wings?"

He regretted it as soon as he asked. How stupid sounding could he get?

But Angie didn't even open her eyes as she lifted one wing to allow the blanket to slide off and stretched it out across his lap. The weight and warmth of it startled him.

And before his eyes, the grey feathers faded lighter and lighter, as though only wet and had started to dry in the morning light. He brushed his fingers across the silky feathers in wonder until, at last, her feathers had faded to bright, brilliant white.

"Angie. Look."

Tired green eyes peered out from over her arm. Yugi held to her now white wing. Looking at her face, even her once silver hair had turned brilliant white. She lifted her head and brought her wing to her.

"What the…" she blinked at the feathers. "Huh."

"I think it's the sun. You were meant to be in it."

She reached out to touch her feathers, smiling.

"Oy, did you guys think to pack any food?"

Joey had his head poked out from the other side of the car where the non broken door was, hair wild from sleep.

Yugi blanched. "Um…"

"Come on, Yug, I'm starving!"

The driver's door popped open and Yami slumped out.

"Then go eat some freaking grass. Hell, Joey, can you yell any louder?" he said.

"You mean to tell me you left without food? Freak, did you two think at all?"

"Why didn't you bring food if you're so smart?"

"Like beer? That's all that's in my house-and poptarts."

"Well I brought money, so if you see a Mickey D's anywhere I'll get you a cheeseburger. Happy?"

Angie self-consciously brought her wing back under the blanket and tucked her head back into her arm. Yugi stuck his pen behind his ear and made sure his notebook was closed and not too wet from the grass.

Joey smacked the top of the dented honda. "In the car, lovebirds, we got a burger to hunt."

"Hit my car again and I will kill you."

"Calm your tits, I doubt I could do anymore damage to your car than it already got."

Yami had his face in his hands and he groaned. From the distance he was at Yugi couldn't hear what his brother muttered, but it sounded close to a curse.

"I like them." said Angie.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I love listening to you guys talk."

"Why's that?" asked Yugi as he got to his feet and held out a hand to help her.

"Because you're friends." she took his hand and shakily got to her feet, clutching at the quilt. Yugi didn't know if that quite answered his question, but he wasn't sure how to ask for more depth than that. He had just noticed how her eyelashes looked like snowflakes in the sunlight.

Back on the road, with chewbacca swinging once more from the rear view mirror, Yami poked at the dent in his ceiling morosely while Yugi, the only other person he trusted to drive his car, sat at the steering wheel. Angie watched the fields and trees go by with apt attention, as though she couldn't see enough, and Joey took another nap. They didn't find any place to eat until eleven in the morning in a town they hadn't caught the name of, and by then joey was whining up a storm and even Angie had lost interest in the passing scenery.

The Burger King they stopped at looked like it had been built in the 60's, and the owners hadn't bothered to get rid of the popcorn ceiling or sparkly turquoise benches.

"You eat beef, right?" Yami asked Angie as they got in line. With the quilt over her wings and the shadows under her eyes, she looked like a lost girl, and Yugi noticed more than one glance in her direction by the employees and other customers.

She nodded, looking as though she didn't have to notice the glances to feel them. Her fingers were white on the blanket.

"Burger fine?"

She nodded again and Yami ordered them a tray full of burgers and four strawberry milkshakes. They ate in quiet until they had left the zone of utter starvation.

"So," said Joey around a mouthful, "now that we got a crazy blood-sucking demon hit out of our worries by a semi, where to now?"

"Well this city is a decent size," said Yugi, "might as well start playing here."

"Nah, I need to hit an ATM first."

"Why?"

"If I keep using my debit card like this it will make it easier to track us. Better if we go by cash."

"Cash is a lot less safe though," said Joey, "if someone steals it from us, we're through."

"Better than if we get scouted out by the cops."

"Could you possibly talk any louder." hissed Yugi, glancing over his shoulder at a curious old couple looking over at them. Angie was looking around as well, nibbling on her burger while sauce dripped onto her hands.

"Okay, then, after the ATM," said Joey, "shouldn't we ask what she wants to do too? I know she's just along on the run, but she is part of team now, so…"

Angie was still looking over her shoulder and chewing. Yugi nudged her and tried not to laugh when she turned around with ketchup on her nose.

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she said after swallowing.

"You're free now, you can go wherever you want. Is there anywhere you'd like to go to?"

Yami threw her a napkin. "You have ketchup on your nose, by the way."

Dabbing at her nose rather sheepishly, she said, "Oh, it's nothing interesting. It wouldn't help you guys get your band going at all. Don't mind me."

"No really," said Yugi, "tell us."

"Don't make my decision for me anyways." said Joey.

Ducking her head a bit behind her burger, she lowered her voice to little over a whisper.

"I want to go to a meadow somewhere, or just somewhere far away, where there aren't any people."

"Why?" asked Yami.

"Because, well," she looked away, to her back. "I've always wanted to learn how to fly."

"You don't know how?" Joey exclaimed. Yugi and Yami shushed him.

Angie nodded. "Cain said he would teach me when my wings were big enough, but I flew with Yugi the other night, which is more than just my weight, so, yeah."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was lying to you about that like he was with everything else." said Yami dryly. "Wouldn't do if you learned how to fly away from him. Makes me wonder what he was planning on doing if you ever stopped believing him."

As Angie's expression fell, Yugi kicked his brother under the table, but the damage had been done. She turned away, lashes lowered, and went back to taking bites out of her burger as though she had lost interest in eating. Yugi glared at him, and Yami rolled his eyes.

Joey watched the exchange between the twins. "Man, this guy's a piece of crazy cake. The kind with those colorful pieces of mystery candy in them. Don't worry about him, Angie. He got hit with a semi! He won't hurt you ever again."

She swallowed, then dropped her half eaten burger on the tray. She wouldn't meet their eyes.

"Angie, you all right?" Yugi asked.

"I'm done," she said softly. "I think I'll be back in the car."

Luckily for her she sat at the edge of the booth and slid out and exited the restaurant. The boys watched her go, wary of her quilt fluttering to let her feathers show as she slid into the car. They exchanged glances, Joey rather confused.

"What did I say?" he asked.

The twins rolled their eyes.

"That thing may be the spawn of hell," said Yami.

"But he was still her godfather." said Yugi.

"And as far as I can tell, the only family she knew." said Yami. "Even though I would slam that-that thing into a truck any day, multiple times if I have to."

"And even though she is better off, it's going to take some time. Best not to talk about it."

"Don't talk about it?" said Joey incredulously through a mouthful of fries. "The guy was a freaking demon that nearly killed us by _flying_ at us on the freeway! And you just expect me to pretend like it never happened?"

"Not pretend," said Yugi, "just be more tactful."

"Unless you want to deal with her crying all over you." said Yami, smirking. "Because I know you're just so good at comforting the ladies."

"Shut up," said Joey, "I still don't get it. Isn't she at least a little bit happy? I mean, I wouldn't be as upset as her if my dad kicked the bucket."

"That's a bit dark of you."

"Are you okay?"

Joey looked back and forth between the half sarcastic, half concern expressions on the twins' faces. He put up his hands defensively.

"I'd feel remorse, of course, I'm just saying I wouldn't miss the guy, and between you and me, man, I don't think he'd miss me either."

"Alright, enough of the emo talk," Yami leaned his elbows on the table. "Where are we going?"

"To help Angie fly, of course." said Yugi.

"Oh, aren't you just cute!" cooed Joey, earning a glare from the smaller twin. Yami grinned.

"Where do you suppose we go then?" he asked.

Joey gave Yami a weird look, as though he had been expecting something else from him, but just as soon as Yugi noticed it Joey's old smirk was back.

"We could always take a back way to the next city," said Joey, "they have lots of dirt roads, we can pull over and find a field. Then everyone is happy. We get the city where we can get our music going and Angie gets her field."

"What's the next city?" asked Yami. "And on that note, where the heck are we?"

"Warren." said Yugi, his eyes over the booth wall.

"Warren? Is that a name?" asked Joey.

"Where'd you get that?"

Yugi pointed to a small brochure stand next to the soda machines. The bright white title said, 'Warren Music in the Park!'

"Are you sure that's not, like, a battle of the bands?" said Joey. "We could just go to that."

Yami gave him a deadpan look. "I think you're thinking of 'warring,' Joey."

"Oh."

"I know you almost fail English every year, but really?"

"Just shut up already and tell me where's Warren."

"Ohio." said Yugi. "At least, I'm pretty sure it is."

"Holy-we got all the way from Domino to here?"

"Guess so."

"Way to go, Yami. So, Yugi, since you're the map man, where's the closest city?"

"I could always look it up," said Yami, slipping out his phone.

"Woa!" Joey snatched the phone out of his hand.

Yami grabbed for it. "What the heck, Joey!"

"Don't you know anything? Debit card by ass, they can track us down with the GPS on these phones! Why didn't you throw it out?"

"Oh come on, that's only in movies."

"No, it's for real," said Yugi. "I left my phone at home, I figured you had done the same."

"But it's got 4G internet!"

"For what, watching nudey movies?"

Yami ground his teeth. "Of course not. Fine, keep it, whatever, let's just go already. Maybe we can find a map in this stupid town."

#$%^&*^%$#

She sat in the car, though she didn't want to be in the car. After dreaming for most of her life about being surrounded by people, she suddenly felt claustrophobic, but the car wasn't much of an improvement. But she stayed put anyways, because she didn't know what else to do. Her eyes burned and she couldn't help but sob.

What had she done?

Cain had hurt her so badly, yes, but had he a reason? Was she just being a rebellious teenager like he always complained about and she would regret it? She'd never lived on her own before, she'd always had Cain to go to, but now here she was, running away, and now he was more than likely dead because of her.

And the twins and Joey, surely they wouldn't stick around much longer. There was only so much ugliness they could take. Without her hair dyed black and her make up on to hide it, they got the full brunt of it. She knew they stared at her when she wasn't looking. She could feel it.

But...but they had called her friend. They had risked so much to help her.

Maybe she could get more dye-but how? Without Cain, she was helpless. She had been so stupid. She finally got what she wanted and now she thought she might be drowning in the freedom. She couldn't just leech off of Yami's savings like this and follow them around like a dog. She had to do something helpful. Anything.

The car door opened and she caught a glimpse of Yugi before she quickly ducked her wet face into her arms and wrapped her wings around her, quilt and all.

"Angie, I...I won't say I understand how you feel, but I just wanted you to know that you don't have to feel like a burden, ever. We want you here."

The surprise that he hit right on the nail of her last thought shocked her into looking out at him past her wings.

"How did you know…?"

"I guessed," said Yugi, his round face kinder than ever.

She wiped at her face, trying to be covert. Yugi looked a bit awkward, but earnest.

"You never did sing for us. Maybe you could be a part of our band after all."

She snorted wetly. "I'm probably not that good. I probably don't even sound human."

Before Yugi could respond to that, the front doors opened and Yami and Joey slid in, talking loudly.

"I don't think any old Wal-mart is going to be happy with us raising their electric bill let alone playing behind them, dude."

"Then where do you suggest, eh? It's not like I could make my acoustic heard over your loud banging."

"There is something called a muffler, stupid-guess what, Angie! We got a present for you!" said Joey.

She wiped at her face some more with the quilt and lowered her wings. A mix of guilt and excitement swirled in her stomach. Yugi was sharing the same excited expression as Joey.

"What?" she asked as Yami started up the Honda.

"We're going to teach you how to fly." say Joey.

"Ignoring the fact we've never flown in our life." said Yugi.

"Aw, come on, can't be that bad. Baby birds just get pushed out of the nest and that's how they learn to fly," said Yami. "Left or right, Yugi."

"Left, I think, but do I look like a GPS?"

"Maybe we should buy one, there's a phenomenal idea." said Yami.

"And make it speak in a sexy lady voice."

"Sure, Joey, just for you."

But Angie's heart had risen to somewhere just below her throat and she could feel her feathers prickling. Her cheeks were hurting with the wideness of her smile.

Fly?

"You mean we're going to-but where will we go? How can we stay hidden? Aren't there satellites and stuff?"

"Honestly, Angie, the government isn't going to be looking for some winged chick somewhere in backwoods Ohio."

"How do you know, man? Area 21, ooooo."

"Shut up, Joey." said Yami.

"Just leave it to us," said Yugi, "we'll get you there. In return you can try out for our lead singer."

"And if you sound like crap, no worries, we'll just laugh." said Joey.

"How sensitive of you, is that what Mai ditched you at Copperback?"

"Don't start, Yami, or Chewbacca gets it."

Now the back of her head was hurting with her smile. She didn't care if they made her sing. They were going to teach her to fly? After all these years!

Maybe, perhaps then, she'd be able to fly from the ghost of Cain. Maybe Yugi meant it when he said they wanted her here. Maybe...maybe they really were her friends.


	9. Flying Lessons for Demons and Angels

**So, I'm going to be rich and famous some day. I decided that about, um, fifteen minutes ago? Yeah. Sooo...peace out and be jealous. **

**Oh, and review. I'd LOVE to know what you think, good or bad. ^.^**

Chapter 9: Flying Lessons for Demons and Angels

(And one really weird CEO)

After picking up some supplies and driving for a few hours near farmland and mountains, they finally came to a dirt road that lead them into a small field, dotted with early spring wild flowers and surrounded by oak and pine.

Yami got out and stretched. He took a deep breath of air. So far, so good. No cops, no demons, and no people.

From the back, Yugi helped Angie get out. He coaxed the quilt off of her.

"Come on, you don't need to hide from anyone. The sun's good for you."

She bit her lip as she slowly slid off the blanket. Her wings were pressed tightly to her back in blotches of grey and white feathers. Yami felt the strangest, unpleasant sick feeling curl under his ribs as he watched his brother take her hands and smile at her, knowing all too well what the tender look on his face meant. Of course he had been right. No one knew Yugi more than him.

He shook himself. He shouldn't be feeling this way.

Joey ran past him to them.

"This is probably the sickest thing I'll ever do!" he said.

As they made their way deeper into the plain, Angie started to relax. Birds twittered about them and a soft breeze blew through. The sky was speckled with clouds and the temperature was perfect. As Yami watched the grey splotches on her wings vanished to white and her hair turned so pale it nearly burned in the sunlight. He could feel his heart racing and his eyes burned.

How could anyone be so beautiful?

"Okay, don't push yourself. You still have a lot of blood loss to make up for." said Yugi.

"What do I do?" she asked.

"What did you do last time?"

"I don't know, I just panicked."

"Well you can't go wrong with good all fashion flapping." said Joey. "Back up, Yami."

Wincing slightly, she raised her wings. For a moment Yami thought her back would still be too sore to do anything, but she succeeded in raising her wings above her head, twice as long as her height, with end feathers spread out like fingers.

Yugi scrambled back as she brought her wings down. The force of the air blew in their faces, and fallen flowers lifted in the breeze.

She flapped three more times, faster, but Yami only saw her heels lifting in the grass. Her expression was wan and she panted.

"Don't push yourself," he tried to say, worried, but she suddenly went into a flurry of flapping. They all covered their faces as twigs, grass and dirt flew everywhere. Above his elbow he saw her rise a few feet, beautiful wings scooping and throwing the air into the ground.

And then she was down, face first, into the ground.

"That was brilliant!" hollered Joey as the twins ran to her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said faintly. "I think I blacked out for a moment."

"You don't have to get it down all today, we can always find another place for you to practice when you've recovered." said Yugi.

"But I want to fly. I want to fly so bad."

"You did." said Yami. He wanted to reach out and touch her: caress her face, run his fingers through her hair, run his hand down her wings.

He smacked his head. Yugi starred.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." said Yami. He suddenly had the strong urge to bash his head in and replace his brain with something that didn't think stupid thoughts about the girl his brother had finally fallen for.

"I want to try again." she said. She got to her feet, face pale, wobbling.

Joey pulled her to her feet the rest of the way, and Yami stopped himself from smacking his head again when he felt a slight twinge of jealousy. "I got some pointers for you then. You should try getting some height. Maybe you should try getting on top of the car."

Joey smirked at Yami, but he just blinked at him. The smirk turned into a look of concern, but Joey didn't say anything.

"I don't think the car would be enough." said Yugi. "Baby birds always have trees to practice from, but proportionally finding something that's as tall as a tree to a bird to someone as big as Angie...we'd need a cliff."

Angie cringed. "That sounds horrible!"

"Relax, we're not pushing you off a cliff." said Yami.

"It is an idea, though."

"Let's just try the car. It will at least get you a bit of more air beneath you."

Together, the three boys lifted Angie onto the trunk and she crawled onto the roof, careful of the dip. Joey was still looking at Yami, waiting, but Yami just kept his eyes on Angie as she lifted those huge wings once more and pumped. The car shook, dirt flew up in mass quantities, and in one more pump she was airborne, flapping frantically.

They cheered. When she reached the treeline they hollered and Joey and Yugi started running around in circles, but Yami held still, trying to shake the burning sensation from his eyes.

And then she stopped flapping and glided across the clearing, only about twenty feet in the air, but they all chased her shadow, whooping.

"How do I land!" she cried, before crashing face first into an oak.

All three of them ran beneath the tree to catch her. Yugi got smacked back by a wing, Joey fell under the brunt of her, and Yami collapsed beneath her weight. For a full minute the four of them laid there, groaning. Then, as one, as though they were all along the same thought pattern, they started to laugh.

"You...you okay?" panted Yami through his mirth.

"Yeah," gasped Angie, "it was a nice tree."

"Shut up, you look like a tiger with all those scratches."

"Rawr."

They fell over plenty of times on the way up and back to the car.

"Why are we laughing so hard? That wasn't even funny."

! #$%^^&%$#

Marik hissed. The abandoned old barn that Cain had pushed him in for the day was filthy. He twisted against the dirt and rubbed his arms, anxious that the dirt would get into his pores, or worse, his hair.

Cain snorted. Marik zoned in on him and bared his teeth. His body still ached, however, so he said nothing.

"OCD much?"

"Aren't I helping you enough, oh black master?" said Marik scathingly.

"The female is gone, so I'll forgive you for your tone."

"She had the right idea. Probably living it up in some disgusting, human hotel."

"What other hotels are there?"

Marik snarled and turned away. He hated that look on that bastard's stupid face. One of these days he'd snap and be damned if he was killed, it would be better than living in such humiliation: wing broken, bruised, bossed around like some ninny.

"Don't you find it ironic?" Cain said.

"Sure."

"You aren't even paying attention."

"What, your highness?"

"Human hotels. That's all there are. In fact, thats all there is. Our food rules the world. Irony." Cain smiled as though he should laugh, but looked up into the cracks of the barn where sunlight seeped through.

"And I suppose you mean to change that?" said Marik, though he didn't really care.

"Do you really think I'd go all this way to kidnap a measly girl?"

"A cherubic girl."

Cain flicked his wing. "Like I said, a measly girl."

Marik crouched down and scratched at the floor to hide his small smile. "You're running, though. There's other birdies out there and they're coming to get you."

"I'm not afraid of them."

"Oh?" Marik suddenly felt a stroke of daring that made his head spin. "Is that why you tried so hard to keep your girl birdie hidden? Probably even went as far to dye that pretty white hair to cover the scent..."

Pieces of old hay and dead bugs flew at him from the force of Cain's wings. Next thing Marik knew he felt claws on his shoulders. Sharp pinpricks told him they had broken skin. His breath caught.

"How do you know that?"

The breath was like the edge of fire across his neck.

Damn him and his mouth. But he had just enough of the dare drug in his brain to answer.

"I've wandered this city for decades without catching a whiff of you or your pet, and those brothers came here looking for something." Marik turned around to catch a glimpse of the massive wings that threatened to swallow him whole. "Strange you should start running so soon after they came to town."

"You know nothing."

"Of course."

The claws tensed even further. Marik bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. He refused to show any more weakness. He would keep every last shred of dignity he had left or so help him he'd tear his own wings off!

Then a cold cheek, like smooth scales of a snake, slid against his cheek. He shuddered. His stomach turned.

"Think what you like. You're lucky enough to help me raise our kind to their proper place. Just think, Marik. Hotels, all nice and OCD clean, just for you."

The hellish breath whooshed over his face as Cain laughed and pulled away. Marik covertly gasped for breath and slunk away to a corner of the barn, swiping at webs and wrapping his wings around him. His shoulders beaded with dots of bright blood.

Damn him. Damn that bastard. Marik didn't care if daemon's ruled the world. What was wrong with this one? It was fun hunting down the stupid sheep of humans that didn't even know there was a wolf among them. Not to mention he really liked his apartment. It was clean, and he had earned it himself.

He felt out his wings and try to estimate how soon they'd be healed, but after the semi incident…

Marik moaned with pain. Mangled. His wings were mangled.

Damn him. Damn him to hell.

The sunlight slowly faded away and the barn got darker. Marik didn't notice until he heard a distant rumble of thunder. He straightened. A storm? It was too early for the sun to have set. He nervously looked over at Cain, who had his wings stretched out till they looked cramped in the old barn. Every muscle in his body was taunt.

"Well," his master murmured, "well well. Fancy that."

The chase was on.

# $%^&*^%

Rain pattered on the tin roof. Thunder rumbled, almost like a content purr, somewhere in the sky. Against it all was Yami's guitar, strummed as though part of the storm. Joey tapped his drums mildly, eyes half closed, and Yugi, red power light on, put his fingers to the keyboard and held them still.

"Remember the words I taught you?" he asked.

Angie, with her wings spread out about her like a loose blanket, nodded, her nose shaded pink with a blush. Her whiteness made her glow in the dim light of the warehouse.

"If you forget the tune, just follow me." said Yami.

"You promise you'll be sure to laugh if I'm bad, right? I don't want you to be so serious."

"We already said we would, didn't we?" said Joey.

"We'll follow your lead. Whenever you're ready." said Yugi.

Angie nodded and closed her eyes. Rain pattered. Wind blew in the quietest of groans. Yugi loved this. The rain, Yami's quiet guitar, Joey's clicking drums. This was exactly what he imagined for his song.

And then Angie started to sing.

"_Head in the clouds, don't want to come down, what's so great about earth? Up here the sky is blinding blue with a wider heavenly berth."_

His blood spiked and his chest exploded with light. Was that a voice? A human voice?

"_But every time it rains_

_it all comes crashing down,_

_eyes still full of blue skies-and freedom_

_wailing at the clouds that let me down_

_let me down:_

_Why?"_

She breathed out the 'why', and Yugi breathed with her. No, this was a sound. A heavenly sound. The song of an angel. Were these really the same lyrics that he had written? With her carefully pronouncing the words and rolling around the notes like a dance, he didn't recognize it anymore.

She continued and they followed after her, being transformed by her till Yugi found himself playing better than he ever had and he could hear the emotion in Yami's electric guitar.

And then the climax hit and they all rose, and in that moment, it as though they all had wings and not just Angie. All of them singing, 'why, why, why?!'

Before Yugi was ready, the song was over, and Angie stood before them self-consciously, her eyes big, green, and sitting above her blush.

"Well?"

"Huh." said Joey.

"Huh? What's that suppose to mean?" she asked. "Look, I've never sung for anyone before and Cain always hated the sound, so it's okay if you tell me I'm awful-"

"Gorgeous." blurted Yami.

One of her wings twitched. "What?"

"How could you ever," said Yugi, feeling breathless, "ever, ever, EVER get the idea that you sound awful? I've never heard a more beautiful voice in my life! Oh my god, are you for real?"

"I don't know," said Joey, "she does sort of have those big feathery things on her back."

She put her fingers to her head. "You mean, for reals?"

"Yes, for reals." said Yugi in exasperation.

"I think we got ourselves our lead singer!" Joey faced Yami with his grin, but Yami said nothing. Joey frowned. "What? Aren't you going to protest?"

"Why would I? She's amazing."

Joey sighed. "Oh nevermind." He gave Angie a thoughtful look, however, which Yugi could tell made her uncomfortable. He tinkled on the high keys to get her attention.

"Look, Angie, we're not pulling your leg. Could you sing for us? Be a part of our band?"

Her eyes sparkled and her expression lit up. "I can't believe this is happening-yes! Of course! I'll sing whatever you want me to."

"Good!" said Joey. He set out a beat, "then lets do that song again. Freaking gave me chills. I can hear our number boys and its on the top of the charts."

This time when Angie begun to sing, Yugi barely hit his queue on time. Even how her voice echoed against the background of the rain ran through him like fresh air.

The warehouse door slid open with a crash. They all stopped and Angie whirled around with her wings squished against her back, hands to her throat. Images of demons and police flashed in Yugi's mind and he squeaked.

A tall figure stood there, an umbrella in his hands and a larger man at the door, drenched in rain. As he stepped in and lowered the umbrella, the dim stormlight hit his face. He had narrowed eyes and dark, well trimmed hair. Yugi thought he had the kind of face you'd see on a celebrity, and the way the other man in his wet dark suit stood stiffly at his side would support that theory.

"So you're what's leaching my electricity." said the tall man. He couldn't have been much older than they, but that didn't stop Yugi from being intimidated.

"I told you plugging in your guitar was a bad idea, Yami."

"Shut up, Yugi, not all of us have battery powered instruments."

"You have an accoustic, don't you?"

"Quiet," snapped the young man, and they all stiffened.

Angie looked positively horrified. Yugi could see the tips of her feathers shivering.

"So you thought you could sneak into my storage and use my electricity for your dorky band practice, eh? What's with the wings, does that help you pretend?"

They all blinked and exchanged looks with Angie. He thought her wings were fake?

"Well?" he demanded.

"We didn't think it would be too much of a bother on you. It's not like Yami's guitar is a power chugger-"

"Even if it was," snapped the man, "it's not the power it's the principle. I don't like squatters near my merchandise."

Yugi took another look at the boxes lining the walls that they had discounted when they had first come in there. He fidgeted uncomfortably and tried to switch off his keyboard as covertly as possible. The cement floor felt awfully cold against his butt.

"We can pay you for your loss," said Yami, "I have some cash in my car, if you'll just let me get it-"

"I don't want your money. Besides, by the look of your junker, you need every cent."

Yami's face flamed with anger and his eyes narrowed. "What do you want from us then? If you want us out, just say so."

"Yeah, stop with this 'my balls are bigger than yours' crap." said Joey.

"Fine," a slow, rather unpleasant smile spread across the boy's handsome face. "I want you to play for me."

There was a stunned silence in which all the band members stared at him. The young man snapped his fingers over his shoulder.

"Close the door."

The wet, suited man in sunglasses bowed and did as commanded.

"Well?" he said.

Unable to think of anything to say, the band exchanged looks with one another. Then Joey, with an uncertain shrug, started up the beat. Still looking a bit red in the face, Yami strummed his chords and plucked the melody with a scowl. Yugi looked at Angie, whose knees were pressed together beneath Yami's too-big shorts, and nodded. She started to sing, voice wavering at first, but still unearthly in its beauty. Yugi quickly flicked his keyboard back on and played.

The whole time the young man just stood there, hands in his coat pockets, face unreadable. His man stood by the door, muttering something into his collar every now and then. When Yugi had the chance he'd peek over to try to learn more about their audience, but all he saw was clean cut hair, a button up shirt, and jacket and shoes that looked expensive enough to come from a top designer line.

They finished on the last 'why' of the lyrics, and Yami led it off into silence with his strings. Thunder rumbled.

When the guy didn't respond, Joey spoke up. "I'm afraid we had to use more of your electricity for that-"

"Shut up." said Yugi through clenched teeth.

The fine cut man didn't react to this. "What are you doing out here anyways? Couldn't you just practice at home?"

All of them, as one, looked down at their feet, except Yugi, who politely met the young man's gaze.

"Um, we sort of are on our own." said Yugi. "Mitigating circumstances. That's why we're sorta here. Our tent won't go up in the rain, and, well, Yami thought it would be a good place to practice."

"You live in a tent?"

"Well, um, we plan to."

He dead panned. "You plan to."

"We sort of just bought it yesterday. We were heading to the city to play for some tips, and-"

"How long have you been on your own?"

"Does it matter?" said Joey. "We're all big boys, we can take care of ourselves. Why do you sound so shocked."

"I'm not. I'm just surprised a bunch of squatters have instruments a geeky angel costumes, though I'm kinda confused as to why only she has the wings."

"We're not squatters." said Yami. "And she's, uh, the lead singer. Kinda goes with our theme."

"And your theme is, what, Angels? Don't tell me that's your band name."

The boys fell silent. They had talked about their name loads of time but had never decided. Angels sounded pretty stupid, but if they could keep going with the idea that Angie's wings weren't real, then who cares?

"Pathetic."

Joey threw down his drumsticks. "Why the hell are you here anyways? If we're squatters tell us to leave already!"

"Be quiet, or I'll change my mind."

"Change your mind?"

"Yes," the way he looked at them all was almost like a glare, but his thin smile ruined it. "You're coming with me. I'm going to be your sponsor."

!# $%^*%$

_"I hate rain. I really do."_

_ "This is bad."_

_ "No duh, it's bad. That daemon could be anywhere now."_

_ "There's no way a daemon would risk this. What if the sun comes out randomly and there's nowhere to hide?"_

_ "Just shut up, Jake. I'm trying to listen."_

_ "How long are we going to sit in this tree?"_

_ "Yeah, aren't trees bad to be in during a thunder storm?"_

_ "For someone who flies daily, you'd think they'd understand lightening."_

_ "I do understand it. It's a rhetorical question, Orphus."_

_ "What about Angelynn? What if he's going after her now?"_

_ "Max-"_

_ "Oh no."_

_ "Fly! Fly!"_

_ "_Jake!"

"_Just go, I'll get him."_

_ "Orphus!"_

#$%^$#

_"The name's Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp."_

The name kept repeating itself over and over in his head. Kaiba. _The_ Seto Kaiba. Rain pattered across the hood of the car as they followed the sporty Mazda through the countryside.

"This is just too weird." said Yami. "I'm can't believe we actually agreed to follow him."

Joey had his arms slung over Yugi's seat and his chin on one. "Yeah. What if he's, like, some creepy molester and he's luring us into his trap?"

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Aren't we a bit old for that?"

"What are squatters?" asked Angie.

"Homeless people who live on other people's property." said Yugi. "And we have to do this, this could be our break through!"

"We're homeless squatters?" whispered Angie, sounding both fascinated and horrified.

"No-I mean yes." said Yami. "Sort of-look, guys, this is just way too lucky. Almost no band gets it this easy, a sponsor after only playing in a warehouse after two days of being out. This is weird."

"Yeah! What happened to going hungry in New York and having to turn prostitute to save ourselves before our big hit after years of scrambling to live off of tips on the street?"

"Joey, you sound way to excited about that prostitute part."

"Just saying."

"Who's Seto Kaiba?" asked Angie.

"Only the filthiest rich man in the computer industry! He's a child prodigy, that guy is. Inherited the company from a man who adopted him and his brother from an orphanage."

"I thought Bill Gates was the richest man."

"Bill Gates died, remember?"

"He did? Oh dear, I didn't think he was that old."

Joey snorted. "He wasn't."

"Oh. Did Bill Gates adopt him?"

"There are more computer guys out there than Bill Gates, Angie."

She blushed. "I know that, I'm just asking. So...what's Kaiba saying when he says he's going to sponsor us?"

"Well, essentially he's going to get us on stage and in recording studios." said Yugi.

Her feathers went up in excitement. "You mean we're going to be a real band? Already?"

Yugi looked uneasy. "Well, whether we sell or not-"

"Man, stuff it, Yug, we're going to do great! With Angie's voice, your skills, and my killer drums-"

"You mean my killer guitar. All you do is keep the beat." said Yami, flicking chewbacca with a grin.

"Watch it." growled Joey.

"We're going to be a band!" she practically glowed. "That means-that means we can make albums for everyone to hear and sing in front of people and-" her expression fell and she suddenly looked sick. "We're going to play in front of people."

"What's wrong?" asked Joey.

She dropped her head, hiding her face. "My illusionary shawl is with Cain. I...I can't go on stage like this." she gestured to her wings, which drooped down her back and into the footwell.

The atmosphere in the car grew distinctly awkward and blue. The twins exchanged worried looks. Yami thought he felt a little sick too. They couldn't just leave her, and her voice was probably a big reason why Kaiba had jumped on them so quickly. If she couldn't sing…

"No problem." said Joey. "We'll just get some wings for us too."

Everyone paused.

"What?" said Yami.

"You heard me. Remember what we told Kaiba? We're the Angels. We can make it our thing to wear wings in public at all times because of some artsy fartsy crap. Get's in the mood or whatever." When no one responded, Joey looked around. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Joey, you're freaking brilliant." said Yami.

"Would it work?" asked Yugi nervously. "I mean, what if someone finds out-"

"Who'd believe them?" said Joey.

"You guys are really…you're going to look like me?" Angie sounded breathless.

"Yep. We'll be winged freaks all together."

There was a squeal and Yami's rearview mirror filled with feathers as Angie glomped Joey.

"I love you! I love you all! How could there be human beings so wonderful!"

"Aw jeeze," said Joey, and Yami snuck a glance back to see the very pink face of his blond friend. He smiled at the smile the squealing angel hung around his neck. For the first time Yami had met her, her face was flushed with color. He looked over to smile at his brother to see if he was thinking the same thing as him, but Yugi's eyes were on her, and his face was alight with that familiar expression.

Yami quickly turned back to the road. The uncomfortable worm had curled up in his gut again and pressed against his lungs. His brother loved her. His little brother, his twin, his other half, loved her. He couldn't have these feelings, he couldn't.

"Just one thing, guys. Angels is probably the stupidest and most cliche name I've heard."

"We better make it good, then."

"Oh, I will!" squeaked Angie.

"And one other thing: what the hell was a CEO doing out here in a warehouse?"


	10. A Temporary Good-bye

To all my readers,

I'm afraid I have to take a long-term leave of you all. I've loved writing stories for Yugioh and Legend of Zelda (and I was debating on stories for several other things as well), but, for now, I have to write to help support my family (I do freelance work online for people who need editors, ghostwriting, and stories), and I don't know when I will have the time to write one of these fun stories for you all again. I also have to work on publishing one of my novels. It's time to get it out there.

Since this story, _Five Brothers, a Band, and a Lost Winged Girl_ doesn't have many readers or followers, I figured it would be okay to leave it on fanfiction unfinished. This is the only time I'm going to do this, since it's not my policy to leave unfinished stories. For now, it will be left as complete until I'm nagged enough to finish it, which probably won't be likely.

I won't be gone forever. I'll be back to write something on here again, or at least to inform you all of when I've published a book. In the meantime, tell me what you think of these stories for thought, because I always love hearing what you think, good or bad. I hope it won't be too long till we can see each other again.

Tschus!

LoweFantasy


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